Romance: 'L'âme évaporée'
French source:
Paul Bourget
L’âme douce, l’âme odorante
Des lis divins que j’ai cueillis
Dans le jardin de ta pensée,
Où donc les vents l’ont-ils chassée,
Cette âme adorable des lis?
N’est-il plus un parfum qui reste
De la suavité céleste
Des jours où tu m’enveloppais
D’une vapeur surnaturelle,
Faite d’espoir, d’amour fidèle,
De béatitude et de paix?
The spent and suffering soul
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
The sweet soul, the soul steeped
In the divine lilies I gathered
In the garden of your thoughts,
Where have the winds dispersed it,
This adorable lilies’ soul?
Does not a single scent remain
Of the heavenly softness
Of the days when you enclosed me
In a supernatural mist,
Made of hope, of faithful love,
Of bliss and of peace?
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Romance: 'L'âme évaporée'
French source:
Paul Bourget
The spent and suffering soul
English source:
Richard Stokes
L’âme évaporée et souffrante,
The spent and suffering soul,
L’âme douce, l’âme odorante
The sweet soul, the soul steeped
Des lis divins que j’ai cueillis
In the divine lilies I gathered
Dans le jardin de ta pensée,
In the garden of your thoughts,
Où donc les vents l’ont-ils chassée,
Where have the winds dispersed it,
Cette âme adorable des lis?
This adorable lilies’ soul?
N’est-il plus un parfum qui reste
Does not a single scent remain
De la suavité céleste
Of the heavenly softness
Des jours où tu m’enveloppais
Of the days when you enclosed me
D’une vapeur surnaturelle,
In a supernatural mist,
Faite d’espoir, d’amour fidèle,
Made of hope, of faithful love,
De béatitude et de paix?
Of bliss and of peace?
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.