Infidélité
French source:
Théophile Gautier
Son ombre sur le sentier;
Voici le jeune églantier,
Le bois où dort le silence.
Le banc de pierre où le soir
Nous aimions à nous asseoir.
Voici la voûte embaumée
D'ébéniers et de lilas,
Où, lorsque nous étions las,
Ensemble, ma bien aimée!
Sous des guirlandes de fleurs,
Nous laissions fuir les chaleurs.
L'air est pur, le gazon doux ...
Rien n'a donc changé que vous.
Infidelity
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Its shadow on the path;
Here is the young wild rose,
The wood where silence sleeps;
The stone bench where, at evening,
We would love to sit.
Here is the fragrant canopy
Of ebony and lilac trees,
Where, when we were tired,
Together, my beloved,
Beneath garlands of flowers,
We would let the heat waft by.
The air is pure, sweet the grass...
Nothing has changed but you.
Translation © Richard Stokes, from A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Infidélité
French source:
Théophile Gautier
Infidelity
English source:
Richard Stokes
Voici l'orme qui balance
Here is the elm that sways
Son ombre sur le sentier;
Its shadow on the path;
Voici le jeune églantier,
Here is the young wild rose,
Le bois où dort le silence.
The wood where silence sleeps;
Le banc de pierre où le soir
The stone bench where, at evening,
Nous aimions à nous asseoir.
We would love to sit.
Voici la voûte embaumée
Here is the fragrant canopy
D'ébéniers et de lilas,
Of ebony and lilac trees,
Où, lorsque nous étions las,
Where, when we were tired,
Ensemble, ma bien aimée!
Together, my beloved,
Sous des guirlandes de fleurs,
Beneath garlands of flowers,
Nous laissions fuir les chaleurs.
We would let the heat waft by.
L'air est pur, le gazon doux ...
The air is pure, sweet the grass...
Rien n'a donc changé que vous.
Nothing has changed but you.
Composer
Reynaldo Hahn
Reynaldo Hahn was a French composer, conductor and music critic. He moved to France at the age of three from Venezuela. Read more here.
Poet
Théophile Gautier
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While Gautier was an ardent defender of Romanticism, his work is difficult to classify and remains a point of reference for many…