I'm almost afraid, it's true | I'm almost afraid, it's true

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by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)

Translation © by Faith J. Cormier

J'ai presque peur, en vérité

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT ENG

J'ai presque peur, en vérité
Tant je sens ma vie enlacée
A la radieuse pensée
Qui m'a pris l'âme l'autre été,

Tant votre image, à jamais chère,
Habite en ce coeur tout à vous,
[Mon]¹ coeur uniquement jaloux
De vous aimer et de vous plaire ;

Et je tremble, pardonnez-moi
D'aussi franchement vous le dire,
À penser qu'un mot, [un]² sourire
De vous est désormais ma loi,

Et qu'il vous suffirait d'un geste,
D'une parole ou d'un clin d'oeil,
Pour mettre tout mon être en deuil
De son illusion céleste.

Mais plutôt je ne veux vous voir,
L'avenir dût-il m'être sombre
Et fécond en peines sans nombre,
Qu'à travers un immense espoir,

Plongé dans ce bonheur suprême
De me dire encore et toujours,
En dépit des mornes retours,
Que je vous aime, que je t'aime !

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Fauré: "Ce"
² Fauré: "qu'un"

Text Authorship:

by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), no title, appears in La bonne chanson, no. 15, first published 1870 [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 Édouard Desmangles , "J'ai presque peur", 1939-41 [ medium-high voice and piano ], from Pièces pour chant et piano, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "J'ai presque peur, en vérité", op. 61 no. 5, published 1892-3 [ voice and piano ], from La bonne chanson, no. 5, Paris, Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]
by Charles Vitali , "J'ai presque peur", 1944 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "I'm almost afraid, it's true", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Didier Pelat

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 136

I'm almost afraid, it's true

Language: English after the French (Français)

 I'm almost afraid, it's true,
 when I see how my life is entwined
 with the radiant thought
 that stole my soul last summer;
 
 when I see how your ever-dear image
 lives in this heart that is all yours,
 my heart that only wants
 to love you and to please you;
 
 and I tremble - forgive me
 for speaking so freely -
 at the thought that a word or a smile
 from you so rules me
 
 and that a gesture, 
 a word or a wink
 from you is enough to set my soul
 in mourning for its heavenly illusion.
 
 I really only want to see you,
 no matter how dark 
 and full of pain my future,
 through an immense hope,
 
 plunged into this supreme job
 of saying over and always to myself,
 despite all dismal returns,
 that I love you, that I love thee!

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Faith J. Cormier, (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.
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Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), no title, appears in La bonne chanson, no. 15, first published 1870
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 142