Le souvenir de la neige
Language: French (Français)
Le souvenir de la neige
d'un jour à l'autre s'efface ;
la terre blonde et beige
réapparaît à sa place.
Une bêche alerte
déjà (écoute !) opère ;
on se rappelle que verte
est la couleur qu'on préfère.
Sur les coteaux on aligne
tantôt un tendre treillage ;
donnez la main à la vigne
qui vous connaît et s'engage.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with The Complete French Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, Saint Paul: Greywolf Press, 1986, Page 60.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Maximilian Beckschäfer (b. 1952), "Souvenir de la neige" [ soprano and mixed chorus ], from Les saisons de mon coeur, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gregory Mertl , "Le souvenir de la neige", copyright © 2007 [ mezzo-soprano, clarinet and piano ], from Quatre aperçus, no. 1, New York, NY : Society of Composers, Inc [sung text not yet checked]
- by Léon Orthel (1905 - 1985), "Le souvenir de la neige", op. 62 no. 1 (1972), from Quatre esquisses valaisannes, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 56
The memory of snow
Language: English after the French (Français)
The memory of snow
fades from one day to the next;
the blonde and beige earth
reappears in its place.
An alert spade
is already (listen!) at work;
we remember that green
is the color we prefer.
Soon on the hillsides we are
lining up our tender trellises;
give a hand to the vine
that knows you and commits itself.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Le souvenir de la neige" = "The memory of snow"
"Souvenir de la neige" = "Memory of snow"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 60
