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Le vent roulait les feuilles mortes ; mes pensées Roulaient comme des feuilles mortes, dans la nuit. Jamais si doucement au ciel noir n'avaient lui Les mille roses d'or d'où tombent les rosées. Une danse effrayante, et les feuilles froissées, Et qui rendaient un son métallique, valsaient, Semblaient gémir sous les étoiles, et disaient L'inexprimable horreur des amours trépassés. Les grands hêtres d'argent que la lune baisait Étaient des spectres : moi, tout mon sang se glaçait En voyant mon aimée étrangement sourire. Comme des fronts de morts nos fronts avaient pâli, Et, muet, me penchant vers elle, je pus lire Ce mot fatal écrit dans ses grands yeux : l'oubli.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- by Maurice Bouchor (1855 - 1929), no title, appears in Les poëmes de l'amour et de la mer, in 2. La mort de l'amour, no. 28, first published 1876 [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)
- [ None yet in the database ]
This text (or a part of it) is used in a work
- by Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855 - 1899), "La mort de l'amour", op. 19 no. 2 (1887), published 1893, orchestrated 1893 [ high voice and piano or orchestra ], from Poème de l'Amour et de la Mer, no. 2
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Korin Kormick) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-02-01
Line count: 14
Word count: 111
The wind rustled the dead leaves; my thoughts Blew about like dead leaves in the night. Never so sweetly did the black sky contain The thousand golden roses from which dew once fell! A frightening dance, and the crumpled leaves, Which gave forth a metallic sound, waltzed, Seemed to groan under the stars, and spoke The inexpressible horror of deceased loves. The tall silver beeches that the moon kissed Were specters: all my blood froze Seeing my beloved strangely smile. Like the brows of the dead, our foreheads paled, And, mute, leaning towards her, I could read That fatal word inscribed in her wide eyes: oblivion.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2011 by Korin Kormick, (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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- a text in French (Français) by Maurice Bouchor (1855 - 1929), no title, appears in Les poëmes de l'amour et de la mer, in 2. La mort de l'amour, no. 28, first published 1876
This text was added to the website: 2011-02-01
Line count: 14
Word count: 106