Absence

Reviens, reviens, ma bien-aimée !
Comme une fleur loin du soleil,
La fleur de ma vie est fermée,
Loin de ton sourire vermeil.

Entre nos coeurs [tant de]1 distance !
Tant d'espace entre nos baisers !
Ô sort amer! ô dure absence !
Ô grands désirs inapaisés !

D'ici là-bas que de campagnes,
Que de villes et de hameaux,
Que de vallons et de montagnes,
À lasser le pied des chevaux !

Au pays qui me prend ma belle,
Hélas! si je pouvais aller ;
Et si mon corps avait une aile
Comme mon âme pour voler !

Par-dessus [les]2 vertes collines,
Les montagnes au front d'azur,
Les champs rayés et les ravines,
J'irais d'un vol rapide et sûr.

Le corps ne suit pas la pensée;
Pour moi, mon âme, va tout droit,
Comme une colombe blessée,
[S'abattre]3 au rebord de son toit.

Descends dans sa gorge divine,
Blonde et fauve comme de l'or,
Douce comme un duvet d'hermine,
Sa gorge, mon royal trésor ;

Et dis, mon âme, à cette belle :
«[Tu sais bien qu'il compte les jours!]4
Ô ma colombe! à tire d'aile,
Retourne au nid de nos amours.»

by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier (1811-1872) , "Absence", from La Comédie de la Mort, published 1838

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) , "Absence", op. 7 no. 4, stanzas 1-3, from Les Nuits d'Été, no. 4.
by Georges Bizet (1838-1875) , "Absence", stanzas 1,2,4-6,8.
by Félicien César David (1810-1876) , "Reviens! Reviens!", from Les perles d'Orient, no. 1.
by Ernest Lavigne (1851-1909) , "Absence", stanzas 1,2,4-6, 8.

ENG English [singable] (Samuel Byrne)
ITA Italian (Enrico Magnani)
ENG English [singable] (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Absence

Come back, come back, my dearest love!
Like a flower far from the sun,
The flower of my life has drooped,
removed from the charm of your smile.

Between our hearts how long a distance!
What a wide space our kisses divide!
O bitter fate! O cruel absence!
O longing vain, unsatisfied!






To that far land where dwells my love,
Alas! if I could only go!
If wings were tied to my body,
As to my soul, then I would fly!

Far away, above the green hill tops,
The lofty mountains with peaks of blue,
The meadows gay, the babbling rivers,
With quick, sure wing I'd take my flight!

The body can't keep up with thought!
With me the spirit goes ahead,
Just like a poor dove that is wounded
And lights on the roof of his cot.






And say, my soul, to my sweetheart:
O my own dove! fly with all swiftness,
Back to the nest hallowed with love!
You know well that he counts the days!

Singable translation by Samuel Byrne , "Absence"

a text in French by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier (1811-1872) , "Absence", from La Comédie de la Mort, published 1838 ITA

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

[ None yet in the database ]

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.