Translation of the song Air grave artist Francis Poulenc

French

Air grave

English translation

Serious air

Ah! fuyez à présent,

Ah! Flee now

Malheureuses pensées!

miserable thoughts!

O! colère, o! remords!

Oh! Rage, oh! Scruples!

Souvenirs qui m'avez

Memories which have

Les deux tempes pressées,

pressed both my temples

De l'étreinte des morts.

in the grip of the dead.

Sentiers de mousse pleins,

Paths of thick moss,

Vaporeuses fontaines,

vaporous fountains,

Grottes profondes, voix

deep grottos, voices

Des oiseaux et du vent

of birds and the wind,

Lumières incertaines

uncertain lights

Des sauvages sous-bois,

of wild primeval forests,

Insectes animaux,

insects, animals,

Beauté future,

future beauty,

Ne me repousse pas,

do not turn me away,

Ô divine nature

o divine nature,

Je suis ton suppliant.

I am your supplicant.