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by Victor Marie Hugo (1802 - 1885)
Translation © by Peter Low
La pauvre fleur disait au papillon...
Language: French (Français)
La pauvre fleur disait au papillon céleste : - Ne fuis pas ! Vois comme nos destins sont différents. Je reste, Tu t'en vas ! Pourtant nous nous aimons, nous vivons sans les hommes Et loin d'eux, Et nous nous ressemblons, et l'on dit que nous sommes Fleurs tous deux ! Mais, hélas ! l'air t'emporte et la terre m'enchaîne. Sort cruel ! Je voudrais embaumer ton vol de mon haleine Dans le ciel ! Mais non, tu vas trop loin ! - Parmi des fleurs sans nombre Vous fuyez, Et moi je reste seule à voir tourner mon ombre A mes pieds. Tu fuis, puis tu reviens ; puis tu t'en vas encore Luire ailleurs. [Aussi]1 me trouves-tu toujours à chaque aurore Toute en pleurs ! Oh ! pour que notre amour coule des jours fidèles, Ô mon roi, Prends comme moi racine, ou donne-moi des ailes Comme à toi !
J. Massenet sets stanzas 1-3
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Cogni: "Ainsi"
Authorship
- by Victor Marie Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, written 1834, appears in Les Chants du Crépuscule, no. 27a, first published 1835 [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 Giulio Alary (1814 - 1891), "Le papillon et la fleur" [ high voice and piano ], from 20 Mélodies, Vol. I, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Durand & Schoenewerk [sung text not yet checked]
- by Victor Emanuel Bendix (1851 - 1926), "La pauvre fleur", op. 21 no. 1 [ voice and piano ], from Quatre Poésies de Victor Hugo, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolfo Cogni , "La pauvre fleur", copyright © 1977 [ voice and piano ], BMG Ricordi Music Publishing [sung text checked 1 time]
- by César Antonovich Cui (1835 - 1918), "La pauvre fleur disait", op. 23 (Six mélodies) no. 5 (1884), published 1884 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Durand, Schoenewerck & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul-Charles-Marie Curet (1848 - 1917), as Paul Puget, "La fleur et la papillon", 1870-79? [ high voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, Vol. 1, no. 12, Éd. Girod [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Le papillon et la fleur", op. 1 no. 1 (1861), published 1869 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "La fleur au papillon", CG. 494 (1835) [ high voice and piano ], unpublished [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Auguste Guéroult (1836 - 1911), "La fleur et le papillon", op. 16 no. 3, published [1879] [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois poèmes lyriques, no. 3, Paris, Éd. Félix Mackar [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912), "La fleur et le papillon", 1862, stanzas 1-3 [ contralto and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Émile Millet (1813 - 1882), "La fleur et le papillon", published c1877 [ high voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Choudens [sung text not yet checked]
- by Napoléon-Henri Reber (1807 - 1880), "Le papillon et la fleur" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916), "Le papillon et la fleur", 1883 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Marike Lindhout) , no title, copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , no title, copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Elena Mariani) , no title, copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Mercedes Vivas) , no title, copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 152
The poor flower kept saying to the...
Language: English after the French (Français)
The poor flower kept saying to the airborne butterfly: "Don't fly away! Our destinies are different: I stay put, you travel! Yet we love one another, we live without human beings, remote from them; and we resemble one another - some say that both of us are flowers. "But alas! the breeze carries you off, while the earth ties me down - what a cruel fate! I would like my breath to perfume your flight in the sky! But no, you travel too far! Visiting countless flowers, you fly away, while I remain alone watching my shadow circle at my feet. "You go, then you come back, then you fly off again to shine elsewhere. So every morning you find me bathed in tears! Ah please, so that our love may glide along faithfully (oh my king!), take root like me - or else give me wings like you!"
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of the title "Le papillon et la fleur" = "The butterfly and the flower"Authorship
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2001 by Peter Low, (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:
- a text in French (Français) by Victor Marie Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, written 1834, appears in Les Chants du Crépuscule, no. 27a, first published 1835
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 150