Regret
French source:
Paul Bourget
Je me souviens de toi comme d’un songe,
Et mon regret fidèle aime et prolonge
Les heures où j’étais aimé.
Les astres brilleront dans la nuit noire;
Le soleil brillera dans le jour clair;
Quelque chose de toi flotte dans l’air,
Qui me pénètre la mémoire.
Quelque chose de toi qui fut à moi:
Car j’ai possédé tout de ta pensée,
Et mon âme, trahie et délaissée,
Est encor tout entière à toi.
Regret
French translation ©
Richard Stokes
I remember you as in a dream,
And my faithful regret loves and prolongs
The hours when I was loved.
The stars will shine in the black night;
The sun will shine in the bright day;
Something of you hovers in the air,
Penetrating my memory.
Something of you that was mine:
For I once filled all your thoughts,
And my soul, betrayed and abandoned,
Is still entirely yours.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Regret
French source:
Paul Bourget
Regret
French source:
Richard Stokes
Devant le ciel d’été, tiède et calmé,
Beneath the summer sky, warm and becalmed,
Je me souviens de toi comme d’un songe,
I remember you as in a dream,
Et mon regret fidèle aime et prolonge
And my faithful regret loves and prolongs
Les heures où j’étais aimé.
The hours when I was loved.
Les astres brilleront dans la nuit noire;
The stars will shine in the black night;
Le soleil brillera dans le jour clair;
The sun will shine in the bright day;
Quelque chose de toi flotte dans l’air,
Something of you hovers in the air,
Qui me pénètre la mémoire.
Penetrating my memory.
Quelque chose de toi qui fut à moi:
Something of you that was mine:
Car j’ai possédé tout de ta pensée,
For I once filled all your thoughts,
Et mon âme, trahie et délaissée,
And my soul, betrayed and abandoned,
Est encor tout entière à toi.
Is still entirely yours.
Composer
Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Please click…
Poet
Paul Bourget
Paul Charles Joseph Bourget was a French novelist and critic.