by
Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
Les jeunes filles du temps passé
Language: French (Français) after the Chinese (中文)
Les jeunes filles du temps passé
sont assises dans un bosquet, parmi les fleurs.
Elles disent : « Nous croyons que nous sommes vieilles,
que nos cheveux sont blancs,
et que nos yeux n'ont plus l'éclat de la lune nouvelle,
mais il n'en est rien.
Le seul coupable est notre miroir, embué d'hiver.
C'est lui qui met de la neige sur nos cheveux,
c'est lui qui déforme nos traits !
L'Hiver méchant ne règne que dans notre miroir. »
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 104-105.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2025-02-19
Line count: 10
Word count: 77
The maidens of bygone days
Language: English after the French (Français)
The maidens of bygone days
are sitting in a grove among the flowers.
They say, "We believe that we are old,
that our hair is white,
and that our eyes no longer have the radiance of the waxing moon,
but none of that is true.
The only culprit is our mirror, clouded by Winter.
That is what puts the snow on our hair,
that is what distorts our features!
Malicious Winter holds sway only in our mirror."
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Jeunes filles du temps passé" = "Maidens of Bygone Days"
"Les jeunes filles du temps passé" = "The Maidens of Bygone Days"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 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 Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Jeunes filles du temps passé", appears in La flûte de jade, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1920
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-29
Line count: 10
Word count: 77
