Absence | Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée !

by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier (1811 - 1872)

Reviens, reviens, ma bien‑aimée !

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT ENG GER ITA

Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée !
Comme une fleur loin du soleil,
La fleur de ma vie est fermée,
Loin de ton sourire vermeil.

Entre nos cœurs [tant de]¹ distance ;
[Tant]² d'espace entre nos baisers.
Ô sort amer ! ô dure absence !
Ô grands désirs inapaisés !

D'ici là-bas que de campagnes,
Que de villes et de hameaux,
Que de vallons et de montagnes,
À lasser le pied des chevaux !

Au pays qui me prend ma belle,
Hélas ! si je pouvais aller ;
Et si mon corps avait une aile
Comme mon âme pour voler !

Par-dessus [les]³ vertes collines,
Les montagnes au front d'azur,
Les champs rayés et les ravines,
J'irais d'un vol rapide et sûr.

Le corps ne suit pas la pensée;
Pour moi, mon âme, va tout droit,
Comme une colombe blessée,
[T'abattre]⁴ au rebord de son toit.

Descends dans sa gorge divine,
Blonde et fauve comme de l'or,
Douce comme un duvet d'hermine,
Sa gorge, mon royal trésor ;

[Et]⁵ dis, mon âme, à cette belle :
[« Tu sais bien qu'il compte les jours !
Ô ma colombe ! à tire d'aile,
Retourne au nid de nos amours. »]⁶

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• H. Berlioz • G. Bizet • F. David • F. Pedrell • E. Tessier

G. Bizet sets stanzas 1, 2, 4-6, 8
E. Tessier sets stanzas 1, 2, 4-6, 8
H. Berlioz sets stanzas 1-3
F. David sets stanzas 1-5, 8-9
J. Depret sets stanzas 1, 2, 6, 8 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
L. Kreutzer sets stanzas 1-3
G. Sarreau sets stanzas 1-2, 4-6, 8
P. Lacôme d'Estalenx sets stanzas 1-2, 4-5, 6, 8

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Théophile Gauthier, La comédie de la mort, Desessart editeur, Paris, 1838, page 283.

¹ Berlioz: "quelle"
² David: "Que"
³ Bizet, Lavigne: "nos"
⁴ Berlioz, Pedrell: "S'abbatre"
⁵ David: "Ah !"
⁶ Lavigne:

« Ô ma colombe ! à tire d'aile,
Retourne au nid de nos amours. 
Tu sais bien qu'il compte les jours ! »

Text Authorship:

by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier (1811 - 1872), "Absence", written 1838, appears in La Comédie de la Mort, Paris, Éd. Desessart, first published 1838 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Georges Albert Baudoüin (1841 - 1890), "Absence", published 1889-1896 [ high voice and piano ], from Six mélodies, no. 3, Éd. Mackar & Noël [sung text not yet checked]
by Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869), "Absence", op. 7 no. 4 (1840), stanzas 1-3 [ voice and orchestra or piano ], from Les Nuits d'Été, no. 4, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Georges Bizet (1838 - 1875), "Absence", op. 21 no. 13 (1872), published 1873, stanzas 1,2,4-6,8 [ soprano and piano ], from Vingt mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 13, Paris, Choudens [sung text checked 1 time]
by Émile Bourgeois (1849 - 1922), "Reviens, ma bien-aimée", published [1889] [ high voice and piano ], from Six mélodies, no. 4, Ed. H. Tellier [sung text not yet checked]
by Montserrat Campmany i Cortés (1901 - 1995), "L'absence", 1921 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Auguste Charles Cœdès (1840 - 1884), "L'absence - Romance", published 1875 [ soprano and piano ], from Soirées d'automne, no. 1, Paris, A. Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul Combes , "Absence", published 1899 [ high voice and piano ], from 2 Mélodies, no. 1, Bordeaux, Henri Riffeau [sung text not yet checked]
by Arthur Coquard (1846 - 1910), "Absence", published <<1881 [ high voice and piano ], from 12 Mélodies pour chant avec accompagnement de piano, no. 9, Éd. Léon Escudier [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul-Charles-Marie Curet (1848 - 1917), as Paul Puget, "Absence", published 1884 [ medium voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, Vol. 2, no. 12, Paris, Éd. Henry Lemoine [sung text not yet checked]
by Félicien César David (1810 - 1876), "Reviens! Reviens!", 1845?, published 1846, stanzas 1-5,8-9 [ high voice and piano ], from Les perles d'Orient, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Joseph Depret , "Reviens, reviens !", published 1888, stanzas 1,2,6,8 [ high voice and piano ], from [21] Mélodies pour chant avec accompagnement de piano, no. 2, Paris, H. Tellier [sung text not yet checked]
by Joseph Depret , "Absence", published 1887 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Sept mélodies, no. 4, Paris, H. Tellier [sung text not yet checked]
by Charlotte Devéria, née Thomas (1856 - 1885), "Absence", published 1877 [ tenor or soprano and piano ], from 16 Mélodies pour chant avec accompagnement de piano, no. 11, Paris [sung text not yet checked]
by Alberto Ghislanzoni (1892 - 1984), "Absence", published 1927 [ high voice and piano ], Rome, Edizione Musicale Arminoa [sung text not yet checked]
by Manuel Giró (1848 - 1916), "Absence", 1878, published 1878-1880 [ voice and piano ], from Tras los montes - Nouvelles mélodies espagnoles, no. 14, Paris, Heugel & fils [sung text not yet checked]
by Lucien Hillemacher (1860 - 1909) and by Paul Hillemacher (1852 - 1933), "Reviens, ma bien-aimée !", published 1889 [ voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, vol. 2, no. 16, Paris, A. Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
by Léon Charles François Kreutzer (1817 - 1868), "Absence", published 1847, stanzas 1-3 [ high voice and piano ], from 26 mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 12, Paris, Richault [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis (Trouillon) Lacombe (1818 - 1884), "Absence" [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul-Jean-Jacques Lacôme d'Estalenx (1838 - 1920), "Absence", published [1867], stanzas 1-2,4-5,6,8 [ voice and piano ], from Six nouvelles mélodies, no. 2, Paris, Éd. "Au Ménestrel" Henri Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
by Charles Lefebvre (1843 - 1917), "Absence", published c1873 [ voice and piano ], from Six poésies mises en musique, no. 3, Paris, G. Hartmann [sung text not yet checked]
by John Parrott , "Absence", subtitle: "Barcarolle", published 1889 [ voice and piano ], Paris, H.-A. Tellier [sung text not yet checked]
by Édouard Pascal , "Absence - Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée", published 1874 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from 25 Morceaux de chant, 2^ème recueil, no. 18, Imprimerie de Arony [sung text not yet checked]
by Felipe Pedrell (1841 - 1922), "Absence", published 1877 [ high voice and piano ], from Consolations - 12 Mélodies sur des poésies de Théophile Gautier, no. 9, Milan: Francesco Lucca [sung text checked 1 time]
by Émile Pessard (1843 - 1917), "Absence", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, no. 12, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
by Jules Philipot (1824 - 1897), "Absence", op. 130, published 1874 [ high voice and piano ], from Poèmes et Chants, Poésies de Théophile Gautier, no. 18, Paris, Léon Grus [sung text not yet checked]
by Albert Renaud (1855 - 1924), "Absence" [sung text not yet checked]
by Gaston Sarreau (1850 - 1935), "L'Absence", <<1882, stanzas 1-2,4-6,8 [ tenor and piano ], Paris, G. Hartmann [sung text not yet checked]
by Ernest Tessier (1851 - 1909), as Ernest Lavigne, "Absence", published 1901, stanzas 1,2,4-6, 8 [ medium voice and piano ], Montreal, S. Park [sung text checked 1 time]
by Jacques-Michel Zoubaloff (1876 - 1941), "Absence", copyright © 1925 [ medium voice and piano ], from Quatre poésies de Théophile Gautier, no. 1, from Mélodies, no. 3, Paris, Léon Grus (QPdTG) ; and Éd. Maurice Senart (M) [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Theodore Baker (1851 - 1934) ; composed by Arthur Hyde.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874) , "Trennung" [an adaptation] ; composed by Hector Berlioz.
- Go to the text.

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

ENG English [singable] (Samuel Byrne) , "Absence"

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 190