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Vaisseaux, nous vous aurons aimés en pure perte ; Le dernier de vous tous est parti sur la mer. Le couchant emporta tant de voiles ouvertes Que ce port et mon cœur sont à jamais déserts. La mer vous a rendus à votre destinée, Au-delà du rivage où s'arrêtent nos pas. Nous ne pouvions garder vos âmes enchaînées ; Il vous faut des lointains que je ne connais pas Je suis de ceux dont les désirs sont sur la terre. Le souffle qui vous grise emplit mon cœur d'effroi, Mais votre appel, au fond des soirs, me désespère, Car j'ai de grands départs inassouvis en moi.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Jean de La Ville de Mirmont, L’Horizon chimérique, Recueil posthume, Éd. Société Littéraire de France, 1920.
Text Authorship:
- by Jean de La Ville de Mirmont (1886 - 1914), no title, written 1911-12, appears in L'horizon chimérique, no. 5, Éd. Société Littéraire de France, first published 1920 [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 Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Vaisseaux, nous vous aurons aimés", op. 118 no. 4 (1921), published 1922 [ baritone and piano ], from L'horizon chimérique, no. 4, Paris, Éd. Durand & Cie [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Vaixells, us haurem estimat ", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "Tall ships, we loved you", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Shawn Thuris) , "Ships, we have loved you to no purpose", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Nele Gramß) , "Schiffe, wir haben euch geliebt", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Didier Pelat
This text was added to the website: 2003-10-22
Line count: 12
Word count: 104
Tall ships, we loved you, never counting Gain or loss. Against the evening sky You loom into the sunset, canvas mounting. Empty we stand, forlorn, the port and I. The sea has sped you onward to your own fate. Our feet are rooted here upon the sand. Your souls with chains we never dared to weight. You yearn for places where I'll never stand. A landsman, I, and my desires are here. Your call at midnight leads me to despair. You thrive on winds that fill my heart with cold fear. I long for foreign shores I'll never dare. Vessels, we would have loved you, even if all were lost. The last of you has set sail. So many unfurled sails have melted into the setting sun that this port, and my heart, will be deserted forever. The sea has taken you to your destiny, beyond the shore on which we stand. We could not keep your souls in chains. You need the distances that I do not know. But my desires lie on land. The breeze that intoxicates you fills my heart with fear. Yet your call, in the depths of the evening, fills me with despair because I long in vain to leave as well.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 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 Jean de La Ville de Mirmont (1886 - 1914), no title, written 1911-12, appears in L'horizon chimérique, no. 5, Éd. Société Littéraire de France, first published 1920
This text was added to the website: 2003-10-22
Line count: 20
Word count: 207