by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)
Translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Je ne songeais pas à Rose
Language: French (Français)
Our translations: ENG
Je ne [songeais]1 pas à Rose ; Rose au bois vint avec moi ; Nous parlions de quelque chose, Mais je ne sais plus de quoi. J'étais froid comme les marbres ; Je marchais à pas distraits ; J'ai parlais des fleurs, des arbres ; Son œil semblait dire : «Après ?» La rosée offrait ses perles, Le taillis ses parasols ; J'allais ; j'écoutais les merles, Et Rose les rossignols. Moi, seize ans, et l'air morose, Elle, vingt ; ses yeux brillaient, Les rossignols chantaient Rose Et les merles me sifflaient, Rose droite sur ses hanches, Leva son beau bras tremblant Pour prendre une mûre aux branches ; Je ne vis pas son bras blanc. Une eau courait, fraîche et creuse, Sur les mousses de velours ; Et la nature amoureuse Dormait dans les grands bois sourds. Rose défit sa chaussure, Et mit, d'un air ingénu, Son petit pied dans l'eau pure ; Je ne vis pas son pied nu. Je ne savais que lui dire ; Je la suivais dans les bois, La voyant parfois sourire Et soupirer quelquefois. Je ne vis qu'elle était belle Qu'en sortant des grands bois sourds. « Soit, n'y pensons plus !» dit-elle. Depuis j'y pense toujours.
F. d'Erlanger sets stanzas 1, 6-9
N. Reber sets stanzas 1-4, 8-9
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Reyer, Delibes: "pensais"
Text Authorship:
- by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Vieille chanson du jeune temps", written 1831, appears in Les Contemplations, in 1. Livre premier -- Aurore, no. 19 [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 Ernest Combes (1852 - 1913), "Vieille chanson du jeune temps", published 1879? [ soprano and piano ], Éd. C. Sagnier-Griffon [sung text not yet checked]
- by Léo Delibes (1836 - 1891), "Vieille chanson", 1882 [ voice, mandolin ], note: written for the play Le roi s'amuse. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Frédéric d'Erlanger, Baron (1868 - 1943), "Vieille chanson du jeune temps", published 1895, stanzas 1,6-9 [ voice and piano ], from Album of Six Songs, no. 2, London: Willcocks & Co., also set in English [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Benjamin Louis Paul Godard (1849 - 1895), "Vieille chanson du jeune temps", op. 8 no. 8, published 1868 [ voice and piano ], from Douze morceaux pour chant et piano, 2me série, no. 8, Paris : G. Flaxland [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eugène Hutoy (1844 - 1889), "Rose", published 1885 [ medium voice and piano ], Liège (Belgique), Veuve L. Muraille [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis (Trouillon) Lacombe (1818 - 1884), "Vieille Chanson du jeune temps", published [1870] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph O'Kelly (1828 - 1885), "Vieille Chanson du Jeune Temps" [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Gambogi Frères [sung text not yet checked]
- by Émile Pessard (1843 - 1917), "Vieille chanson du jeune temps", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, no. 16, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
- by Émile Poirson , "Vieille chanson du jeune temps", op. 1 no. 1, published [1907] [ medium voice and piano ], from Chansons de poètes, no. 1, Éd. A.Z. Mathot [sung text not yet checked]
- by Napoléon-Henri Reber (1807 - 1880), "Rose", stanzas 1-4,8-9 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Louis-Étienne-Ernest Rey (1823 - 1909), as Ernest Reyer, "Vieille chanson du jeune temps", 1860, published 1860 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Meissonnier fils [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Mathilde, Baroness Willy de Rothschild (1832 - 1924), "Vieille chanson du jeune temps", <<1865 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Marie Jean Albert Widor (1844 - 1937), "Vieille chanson du jeune temps", op. 43 no. 6 [ medium voice and piano ], from Quarante mélodies, no. 24, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Francis Charles Philips (1849 - 1921) ; composed by Frédéric d'Erlanger, Baron.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by César Antonovich Cui.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Amy Pfrimmer) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 36
Word count: 191
Staraya pesnya
Language: Russian (Русский) after the French (Français)
S Rozoj my' v lesu brodili, Vstretianshis` sluchajno tam, I o chyom to govorili, No o chyom ne znayu sam, Xolodnee kamnya by'l ya I razseyanno mechtal! O czvetax ej govoril ya... No vzor ej chego to zhdal Travka iskrilas` rosoyu I manila ten` kustov; Drozdov slushal ya s toskoyu, A Roza pen`e solov`yon. YA v shestnadczat` let by'l skromny'm Dvadczat` ej proshlo togda Solov`i ej peli tomno YA zhe sly'shal... svist drozda. Roza stan` svoj vy'pryamlyaya Ruku k yaetke podnyala Yagodku sebe sry'vaya... Po ruki ne videl ya, Tam rucheyok shalovlino Probegal sredi lugov, I vsya priroda lenivo Tam otdy'xala sred lesov. Roza nozhku obnazhila I s naiknost`yu shalya V rucheyok tot pogruzila No ne nidel` nozhki ya. Rech` moya vsyo ne vyazalas` YA dolgo s nej gulyal togda, I ona, to uly'balas`, To nady'xala inogda... Kak ona krasoj siyala Uvidal ya lish` uxodya. „Zabudem vsyo!” ona skazala. S tex por o nej mechatayu ya!
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Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Vieille chanson du jeune temps", written 1831, appears in Les Contemplations, in 1. Livre premier -- Aurore, no. 19
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by César Antonovich Cui (1835 - 1918), "Старая песня", op. 23 (Six mélodies) no. 3 (1884), published 1884 [ voice and piano ], St Petersburg, Bessel ; and Paris, Durand, Schoenewerk [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2021-07-28
Line count: 36
Word count: 156