Message | Leaning over the humble daisy

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by Charles Manso (1835 - 1903)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Message

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Penché sur l'humble pâquerette
Que dans un pli tu m'envoyas,
J'ai, déchirant sa collerette
Interrogé la fleur tout bas.

Suis-je aimé, dis-je ? ma chérie,
De toi j'attends [un prompt]¹ aveu.
Et la fille de la prairie 
Me répondit alors : « Un peu... »

Un peu ! c'est ainsi qu'elle m'aime ?
— Ce cri de mon cœur est sorti. —
Viendras-tu me dire toi-même
Que la fleur des prés a menti ?

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Koszul

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Charles Manso, Les Chants du soir: poésies, Lille, L. Danel, 1869, Page 73.

¹ Koszul: "ce doux"

Text Authorship:

by Charles Manso (1835 - 1903), "Message", written 1869?, appears in Les Chants du soir, poésies, in 2. Les sentiers du cœur, no. 9, Lille, Éd. L. Danel, first published 1869 [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 Julien Koszul (1844 - 1927), "Message", published [1879] [ voice and piano ], from Deux Mélodies, no. 1, Éd. Durand, Schoenewerck & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]

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

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

Researcher for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-11-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 70

Message

Language: English after the French (Français)

Leaning over the humble daisy 
That you sent me in a letter,
And tearing off its wrapper, I 
Questioned the flower in a low voice.

"Am I loved?" I said, "My dear,
I await your [swift]¹ confession."
And the daughter of the meadow
Answered me thus: "A little..."

"A little! Is that how much she loves me?"
— Such is the cry that issued from my heart —
Will you come to tell me yourself 
That the flower of the fields was lying?

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Koszul: "sweet"

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.
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Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Charles Manso (1835 - 1903), "Message", written 1869?, appears in Les Chants du soir, poésies, in 2. Les sentiers du cœur, no. 9, Lille, Éd. L. Danel, first published 1869
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-11-24
Line count: 12
Word count: 84