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Fauré - Prison

Prison

Fauré (1897)
Hahn - D'une prison (1892)
de Séverac (1897)

Le ciel est, par-dessus le toit,
Si bleu, si calme.
Un arbre, par-dessus le toit,
Berce sa palme.

La cloche, dans le ciel qu'on voit,
Doucement tinte.
Un oiseau sur l'arbre qu'on voit,
Chante sa plainte.

Mon Dieu, mon Dieu. La vie est là,
Simple et tranquille.
Cette paisible rumeur-là
Vient de la ville.

Qu'as-tu fait, ô toi que voilà
Pleurant sans cesse,
Dis, qu'as-tu fait, toi que voilà,
De ta jeunesse?

Paul Verlaine

Prison

 
From a prison
 

The sky above the roof,
is so blue, so calm.
A tree, above the roof,
rocks its bough.

The bell in the sky that one sees,
tolls quietly.
A bird on the tree that one sees,
sings its lament.

My God, my God. There is life,
simple and quiet.
That restful murmuring there
comes from the town.

What have you done, o you there
weeping unceasingly.
Tell me, what have you done, you there,
with your youth?

© translated by Christopher Goldsack

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