Tears of gold | Tears hanging from the flowers

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Albert Victor Samain (1858 - 1900)

Translation © by David K. Smythe

Larmes aux fleurs suspendues

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT CHI ENG GER

Larmes aux fleurs suspendues,
Larmes de sources perdues
Aux mousses des rochers creux ;

Larmes d'automne épandues,
Larmes de [cors]¹ entendues
Dans les grands bois douloureux ;

Larmes des cloches latines,
Carmélites, Feuillantines...
Voix des beffrois en ferveur ;

Larmes, chansons argentines 
Dans les vasques florentines 
Au fond du jardin rêveur ;

Larmes des nuits étoilées, 
Larmes [de]² flûtes voilées 
Au bleu du parc endormi ;

Larmes aux [longs]³ cils perlées,
Larmes d'amante coulées 
Jusqu'a l'âme de l'ami ;

[Gouttes]⁴ d'extase, éplorement délicieux,
Tombez des nuits ! Tombez des fleurs ! Tombez [des]⁵ yeux !

Et toi, mon cœur, sois le doux fleuve harmonieux, 
Qui, riche du trésor tari des urnes vides, 
Roule un grand rêve triste aux mers des soirs languides.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• G. Fauré • S. Gassot • C. Tournemire

G. Fauré sets stanzas 1-3, 5-7
S. Gassot sets stanzas 1-3, 5-7

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Note: the poem first appeared in the revue Le Scapin, December 6, 1886; and later in Au Jardin de l'Infante, 1893.

¹ Fauré: "cor"
² Fauré: "des"
³ Fauré: "grands"
⁴ Fauré, Gassot: "Larmes"
⁵ Tournemire: "les"

Text Authorship:

by Albert Victor Samain (1858 - 1900), "Larmes", written 1886, appears in Au jardin de l'Infante, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1886 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

by S. Curtis , "Larmes", op. 39 (Trois mélodies - Three songs) no. 3, published [1922] [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ], Paris, Éd. Maurice Senart [sung text not yet checked]
by Amédée Dutacq (1848 - 1929), "Les larmes" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Pleurs d'or", op. 72 (1896), published 1897, stanzas 1-3,5-7 [ vocal duet for soprano and tenor with piano ], Paris, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]
by Jane Fonssagrives , "Larmes", <<1909 [ medium voice and piano ], from Cinq mélodies, poèmes d'Albert Samain, no. 3, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
by Stéphane Gassot (b. 1987), "Larmes aux fleurs suspendues", 2013, stanzas 1-3,5-7 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Maurice Le Boucher (1882 - 1964), "Larmes", 1908, published 1910 [ high voice and piano ], from Quatre mélodies, poésies d'Albert Samain, no. 1, Paris, Éd. Costallat & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
by Maurice Le Corbeiller (flourished c1931), "Larmes", published 1935, copyright © 1930 [ vocal trio for soprano, mezzo-soprano, and alto with piano ], from Au Jardin de l'Infante, sept poèmes d'Albert Samain, no. 6, Paris, Éd. Durand [sung text not yet checked]
by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "Larmes", op. 46 no. 3 (1993), published 2014 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Lieder nach Texten von Albert Samain, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Jacques Guillaume de Sauville de la Presle (1888 - 1969), "Larmes", published 1910 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Rouart, Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
by ? de Souza-Meïral , "Larmes", published <<1905 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Théodore Terestchenko (1888 - 1950), "Larmes", op. 60, published 1920 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Ricordi [sung text not yet checked]
by Charles Tournemire (1870 - 1939), "Larmes", op. 32 no. 1 (1908), from Poème, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this page: David K. Smythe

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 23
Word count: 118

Tears of gold

Language: English after the French (Français)

Tears hanging from the flowers,
Tears of springs lost
In the mossy hollows of the rocks;

Autumnal tears spread,
Painful tears of horns heard
In the great woods.

Tears of Latin bells,
Carmelites, Feuillantines...
Voices of belfries in fervour;

Tears, silvery songs
In the Florentine bowls
At the bottom of the dreamy garden;

Tears of starry nights,
Tears of veiled flutes
In the blue of the sleepy park;

Beaded tears of long eyelashes,
Tears of a mistress flowing
As far as the soul of the lover;

Drops of ecstasy, deliciously grief-stricken,
Let nights fall! Let flowers fall! Let eyes fall!

And you, my love, may you be the sweet harmonious flood,
Who, rich from the dried-up treasure of empty urns,
Drives a great sad dream to the seas of languid evenings.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by David K. Smythe, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Albert Victor Samain (1858 - 1900), "Larmes", written 1886, appears in Au jardin de l'Infante, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1886
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 23
Word count: 131