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Translation
The Paths of Love
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
The paths that lead to the sea
Have retained from our passing
The flowers that shed their petals
And the echo beneath their trees
Of our clear laughter.
Alas! no trace of those happy days,
Those radiant joys now flown,
Can I find again
In my heart.
Paths of my love,
I search for you ceaselessly,
Lost paths, you are no more
And your echoes are muted.
Paths of despair,
Paths of memory,
Paths of our first day,
Divine paths of love.
If one day I must forget,
Since life obliterates everything,
I wish for my heart to remember one thing,
More vivid than the other love,
To remember the path
Where trembling and quite distracted,
I one day felt on me your passionate hands.
Have retained from our passing
The flowers that shed their petals
And the echo beneath their trees
Of our clear laughter.
Alas! no trace of those happy days,
Those radiant joys now flown,
Can I find again
In my heart.
Paths of my love,
I search for you ceaselessly,
Lost paths, you are no more
And your echoes are muted.
Paths of despair,
Paths of memory,
Paths of our first day,
Divine paths of love.
If one day I must forget,
Since life obliterates everything,
I wish for my heart to remember one thing,
More vivid than the other love,
To remember the path
Where trembling and quite distracted,
I one day felt on me your passionate hands.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Composer
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (F7 January 1899 – 30 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodies, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Read the full…
Performances
Previously performed at:
- Oxford Lieder at Fairlight Hall: Olivia Boen & Sholto Kynoch 15 May 2022
- Oxford Lieder at Rye Creative Centre: Olivia Boen & Sholto Kynoch 14 May 2022
- Oxford Lieder at Cedars Hall: Olivia Boen & Sholto Kynoch 12 May 2022
- Song at Wolfson: Olivia Boen & Sholto Kynoch 05 May 2022
- Song at Wolfson / Anna Cavaliero: Britten, Korngold, Poulenc, Bartók and Walton 30 Jan 2020
- Oxford Lieder at Fairlight Hall / Anna Cavaliero: Britten, Korngold, Poulenc, Bartók and Walton 26 Jan 2020
- Felicity Lott / Eugene Asti 04 Mar 2016