I wish only to love you

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by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Je n'ai envie que de t'aimer

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Je n'ai envie que de t'aimer
Un orage emplit la vallée
Un poisson la rivière

Je t'ai faite à la taille de ma solitude.

Le monde entier pour se cacher
Des jours des nuits pour se comprendre
Pour ne plus rien voir dans tes yeux
Que ce que je pense de toi
Et d'un monde à ton image
Et des jours et des nuits réglés par tes paupières.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, written 1936, appears in Les yeux fertiles, in Grand air, in Intimes, no. 5, Éd. GLM, first published 1936 [author's text not yet checked 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 Riccardo Malipiero (1914 - 2003), "Je n'ai envie que de t'aimer (intimes)", 1948, published 1948 [ medium voice and piano ], from Quatre Poésies de Paul Éluard, no. 1, Milan, Carisch S.A. [sung text not yet checked]
by Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "Je n'ai envie que de t'aimer", FP 86 no. 7 (1936), published 1937 [ high voice and piano ], from Tel jour Telle nuit, no. 7, Éd. Durand [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Rafał Kłocko.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

Other 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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 68

I wish only to love you

Language: English after the French (Français)

I wish only to love you 
A storm fills the valley 
A fish the river

I formed you to the dimensions of my loneliness.

The whole world to hide in
Days nights to understand each other 
To see nothing more in your eyes 
Than what I think of you 
And of a world in your image 
And days and nights governed by your eyelids.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Je n'ai envie que de t'aimer" = "I wish only to love you"
"Je n'ai envie que de t'aimer (intimes)" = "I wish only to love you (intimates)"

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 Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, written 1936, appears in Les yeux fertiles, in Grand air, in Intimes, no. 5, Éd. GLM, first published 1936
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-12-20
Line count: 10
Word count: 64