by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
Translation by Stefan George (1868 - 1933)
Les roses étaient toutes rouges
Language: French (Français)
Les roses étaient toutes rouges Et les lierres étaient tout noirs. Chère, pour peu que tu te bouges Renaissent tous mes désespoirs. Le ciel était [trop bleu, trop tendre,]1 La mer trop [verte et l'air trop doux.]2 Je crains toujours, -- ce qu'est d'attendre Quelque fuite atroce de vous. Du houx à la feuille vernie Et du luisant buis je suis las, Et de la campagne infinie Et de tout, fors de vous, hélas !
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Phaneuf (Dela): "si bleu, si tendre"
2 Phaneuf (Dela): "verte, l'air si doux!"
Text Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Spleen", appears in Romances sans paroles, in Aquarelles, no. 2 [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 Joseph Béesau (1871 - 1940), "Spleen", published 1920 [ high voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, no. 8, Paris, Sénart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean-Robert Blanc (b. 1907), "Spleen", 1935, published 1943 [ voice and piano ], from Six mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 3, Bordeaux, R.J. Blanc [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Bordes (1863 - 1909), "Spleen", 1886, published 1902 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Mergault [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Alphonse-Eugène-Marie Catherine (1868 - 1927), "Spleen", published 1900 [ voice and orchestra ], from Deux mélodies pour chant et petit orchestre, no. 1, Paris, Quinzard [sung text not yet checked]
- by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "Spleen", L. 63/(60) no. 6 (1885-7), published 1888 [ voice and piano ], from Ariettes oubliées, no. 6, Paris, Vve E. Girod [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Fidès Devriès (1852 - 1941?), "Spleen", published 1907 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Choudens [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bernard van Dieren (1887 - 1936), "Spleen", 1910, published 1927, Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Madeleine Dubois (1892 - 1969), "Spleen", published 1915 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Ricordi [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marius-François Gaillard (1900 - 1973), "Spleen", published 1917 [ voice and piano ], from Six mélodies, no. 1, Paris, Costallat [sung text not yet checked]
- by Roger-Élie Jalowicz , "Spleen", published 1924 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Ricordi [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Ladmirault (1877 - 1944), "Spleen", <<1900 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies pour voix et piano, no. 6, Paris, Gallet [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sylvio Lazzari (1857 - 1944), "Spleen", op. 19 no. 1, published 1894 [ voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies, no. 1, Paris, Fromont [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Louis Iwan Le Grand (1894 - 1964), "Les roses", [1945] [ voice and piano ], from Aquarelles, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Madeleine Lemariey (flourished c1900-1915), "Spleen", published 1913 [ voice and piano ], from Six mélodies, no. 3, Paris, Édition Maurice Sénart [sung text not yet checked]
- by René-Jean Matter , "Les roses", [1952] [ soprano and piano ], from Trois mélodies pour soprano, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marius Mille , "Spleen", [1926] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean-Frédéric Perrenoud (b. 1912), "Spleen", published [1958] [ voice and piano ], from Sagesse : Trois poèmes de Verlaine, no. 1, Paris, J.-F. Perrenoud [sung text not yet checked]
- by Albert Phaneuf (1919 - 1978), as Maurice Dela, "Spleen", published 1949 [ voice and piano ], Canada, BMI Ltée [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Auguste Pierret (1874 - 1916), "Spleen", published 1895 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Baudoux [sung text not yet checked]
- by Irena Regina Poldowski (1880 - 1932), "Spleen", published 1912 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Rœder [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph Ryelandt (1870 - 1965), "Tristesse", op. 19 (Six mélodies) no. 5 (1897), published 1914 [ medium voice and piano ], Liège, Éd. Veuve Leopold Muraille [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry Sauveplane (1892 - 1942), "Spleen", published 1920 [ voice and piano ], from Deux mélodies, no. 1, Paris, Sauveplane ; Paris, Sénart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Schopfer (1867 - 1926), "Spleen", published 1912 [ medium voice and piano ], from Cinq mélodies, no. 5, Paris, Ricordi [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jerzy Sokorski , "Spleen", 1956 [ voice and piano ], from Poésie de Paul Verlaine [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean.-P. Strauwen , "Spleen", [1942] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Vierne (1870 - 1937), "Spleen", op. 38 no. 3 (1916), published 1924 [ voice and orchestra or piano ], from Spleens et Détresses, no. 3, Paris, Salabert [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Ernest Christopher Dowson (1867 - 1900) , no title, appears in Decorations, in After Paul Verlaine, no. 3, first published 1899 ; composed by John Ireland.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Stefan George (1868 - 1933) , "Spleen", appears in Zeitgenössische Dichter, in Frankreich, in Paul Verlaine, in Aus: Lieder ohne Worte ; composed by Winfried Zillig.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Arthur Grüber.
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- Also set in Norwegian (Bokmål), a translation by Andreas Grimelund Jynge (1870 - 1955) ; composed by Johan Selmer.
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- Also set in Serbian (Српски), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Anton Lajovic.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) [singable] (Núria Colomer) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Corinne Orde) , "Spleen", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-10-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 74
Spleen
Language: German (Deutsch) after the French (Français)
Ganz rot die rosen blinken · Der efeu ist schwarz wie die nacht. Teure · wenn leis du nur winkest Die alte verzweiflung erwacht. Zu zart und zu blau war der himmel Zu mild die luft und zu grün die bucht. Ich erwarte -- ich fürcht es immer -- Von dir eine schreckliche flucht. Den leuchtenden buchs bin ich müde Des hulstes gefirnisstes dach Die endlos weiten gefilde Und alles -- dich nur nicht -- ach!
Text Authorship:
- by Stefan George (1868 - 1933), "Spleen", appears in Zeitgenössische Dichter, in Frankreich, in Paul Verlaine, in Aus: Lieder ohne Worte [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Spleen", appears in Romances sans paroles, in Aquarelles, no. 2
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Winfried (Petrus Ignatius) Zillig (1905 - 1963), "Spleen", published 1958 [voice and piano], from Vergessene Weisen, no. 3, Kassel, Bärenreiter [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2012-02-05
Line count: 12
Word count: 72