If you could know all the sadness

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by Francis Jammes (1868 - 1938)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Si tu pouvais savoir toute la tristesse

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Si tu pouvais savoir toute la tristesse
qui est au fond de mon cœur, tu la comparerais
aux larmes d’une pauvre mère bien malade,
à la figure usée, creuse, torturée et pâle,
pauvre mère qui sent qu’elle va bientôt mourir
et qui déplie pour son enfant le plus petit,
déplie, déplie, pour le lui donner
un jouet de treize sous, un jouet luisant, un jouet.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Francis Jammes (1868 - 1938), no title, written 1897, appears in De l'Angélus de l'aube à l'Angélus du soir , Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1898 [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 Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "Si tu pouvais", 2012 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974), "Si tu pouvais", op. 1 (Poèmes de Francis Jammes), Heft 2 no. 15 (1910-1912) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2014-10-04
Line count: 8
Word count: 65

If you could know all the sadness

Language: English after the French (Français)

If you could know all the sadness 
lying deep in my heart, you might liken it
to the tears of a poor, gravely ill mother,
her face worn, gaunt, tortured and pale,
poor mother who senses she will soon be dead,
and who unfolds for her youngest child,
unfolds, unfolds, to give him
a thirteen-sou toy, a shiny toy, a toy.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "Si tu pouvais" = "If you could know"

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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Francis Jammes (1868 - 1938), no title, written 1897, appears in De l'Angélus de l'aube à l'Angélus du soir , Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1898
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-06-28
Line count: 8
Word count: 61