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Depuis un [mois]1, chère exilée, Loin de mes yeux tu t'en allas, Et j'ai vu fleurir des lilas Avec ma peine inconsolée. Seul, je fuis ce ciel clair et beau Dont l'ardent effluve me trouble, Car l'horreur de l'exil se double De la splendeur du renouveau. En vain j'entends contre les vitres, Dans la chambre où je m'enfermai, Les premiers insectes de Mai Heurter leurs maladroits élytres ; En vain le soleil a souri, Au printemps je ferme ma porte, Et veux seulement qu'on m'apporte Un rameau de lilas fleuri; Car l'amour dont mon âme est pleine [Retrouve, parmi]2 ses douleurs Ton regard dans ces chères fleurs Et dans leur parfum ton haleine.
R. Hahn sets stanzas 1-2, 4-5
L. Maingueneau sets stanzas 1-2, 4-5
1 Maingueneau: "deux"; further changes may exist not shown above.
2 Hahn: "Y trouve parmi"
Text Authorship:
- by François Coppée (1842 - 1908), "Mai", appears in Les Récits et les Élégies, in Élégies, in 3. Les mois, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1878 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947), "Mai", 1889, published 1895, stanzas 1-2,4-5 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies - 1er volume, no. 3, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Martin Lunssens (1871 - 1944), "Mai" [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Maingueneau (1884 - 1950), "Mai", published 1911, stanzas 1-2,4-5 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. Costallat [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Mélant (1855 - 1916), "Mai" [ high voice and piano ], from Les Mois - 12 poésies de F. Coppée, no. 5, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "May", copyright ©
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 115
It has been one month, sweet exiled one, Since you left my sight, And I have seen the lilacs bloom With inconsolable grief. Alone, I shun fresh air, Whose ardent fragrance disquiets me, For the horror of an exile doubles At seeing the luster of nature's renewal. In vain I listen at the windows, In the room in which I have shut myself up, As the first beetles of May Collide against them with their clumsy shells. In vain does the sun smile, For I close my door against the spring, And wish only that someone would bring me A branch of blossoming lilac; For Love, of which my heart is full, in the middle of its grief, finds Your gaze among these precious flowers, And in their scent, your breath!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust, (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.
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by François Coppée (1842 - 1908), "Mai", appears in Les Récits et les Élégies, in Élégies, in 3. Les mois, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1878
This text was added to the website: 2014-09-29
Line count: 20
Word count: 131