Simone Lemieux: Lyrics and Translations

April 23, 2025

Fresche aurette

Fresh playful
breezes, you're breathing
sweet fragrances all around;
amorous
little birds,
make new songs today.

Here's the breeze
that restores
every spirit and beautifies the world;
with her the day
now returns,
and is renewed even more beautifully.

There is no nymph
amidst the clear streams
that is not drawn into the joyful dances;
the shepherds,
in sweet fellowship,
come forth from the woods and valleys.

Charming,
sensuous,
the naked cupids come;
here dancing,
raising song
to the honor of the dawn and Heaven.

Che si può fare?

What can you do?
The stars, intractable,
have no pity.
Since the gods don't give
a measure of peace in my suffering,
what can I do?

What can you say?
From the heavens disasters
keep raining down on me;
Since that treacherous Cupid
denies respite to my torture,
what can I say?

Fünf Lieder

Die stille Stadt

A town lies in the valley,
a pallid day fades;
it will not be long now
before neither moon nor stars
but only night will be seen in the sky.

From all the mountains
fog presses down upon the town;
no roof may be discerned, no yard nor house,
no sound penetrates through the smoke,
barely even a tower or a bridge.

But as the traveller became filled with dread
a little light shone out;
and from out of the smoke and fog
a song of praise began,
sung by children.

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2020 by Sharon Krebs

In meines Vaters Garten

In my father's garden --
Bloom, my heart, bloom forth! --
In my father's garden
Stands a leafy apple tree --
Sweet dream --
Stands a leafy apple tree.

Three blonde King's daughters --
Bloom, my heart, bloom forth -
Three wondrous maidens
Slept under the apple tree --
Sweet dream --
Slept under the apple tree.

The youngest of the fine ladies --
Bloom, my heart, bloom forth! --
The youngest of the fine ladies
Blinked but did not awake --
Sweet dream --
Blinked but did not awake.

The second moved a hand over her hair --
Bloom, my heart, bloom forth! --
The second moved a hand over her hair,
Saw the morning's hemline of red --
Sweet dream --
Saw the morning's hemline of red.

She spoke: Did you not hear the drum?
Bloom, my heart, bloom forth! --
She spoke: Did you not hear the drum?
Clearly through the twilight space --
Sweet dream --
Clearly through the twilight space?

My beloved joins me on the battlefield --
Bloom, my heart, bloom forth --
My beloved joins me on the battlefield,
Kisses me as the victor on the hem of my uniform --
Sweet dream --
Kisses me as the victor on the hem of my uniform.

The third spoke -- and spoke so softly --
Bloom, my heart, bloom forth! --
The third spoke -- and spoke so softly --
I kiss the hem of my beloved's uniform.
Sweet dream --
I kiss the hem of my beloved's uniform.

In my father's garden --
Bloom, my heart, bloom forth! --
In my father's garden
Stands a leafy apple tree --
Sweet dream --
Stands a leafy apple tree.

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 by Emily Ezust

Laue Sommernacht

Mild summer night,
in the sky
There are no stars; in the wide woods
We searched deep in the darkness
And we found ourselves.

We found ourselves in the wide woods,
In the night, the starless night;
We held ourselves in wonder in each other's arms
In the dark night.

Was not our entire life
Simply groping, simply searching?
There, into its darkness
Tumbled your light, Love.

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 by Emily Ezust

Bei dir ist es traut

I am at ease with you,
faint clocks strike
as from olden days,
Come, tell your love to me,
But not too loud!

Somewhere a gate moves
Outside in the drifting blossoms,
Evening listens in at the window panes,
Let us stay quiet,
So no one knows of us!

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Knut W. Barde

Ich wandle unter Blumen

I wander among the flowers
and blossom myself along with them;
I wander as if in a dream
and sway with every step.

Oh hold me tightly, my beloved!
Or, drunk with love,
I will collapse at your feet;
and the garden is full of people!

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

Requiescat

Tread lightly, she is near
Under the snow,
Speak gently, she can hear
The daisies grow.
All her bright golden hair
Tarnished with rust,
She that was young and fair
Fallen to dust.
Lily-like, white as snow,
She hardly knew
She was a woman, so
Sweetly she grew.
Coffin-board, heavy stone,
Lie on her breast,
I vex my heart alone
She is at rest.
Peace, Peace, she cannot hear
Lyre or sonnet,
All my life’s buried here,
Heap earth upon it.

The Chariot

Because I would not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children played
Their lessons scarcely done
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – but a Mound –

Since then – 'tis Centuries – but each
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity –

Requiescat

Tread lightly, she is near
Under the snow,
Speak gently, she can hear
The daisies grow.
All her bright golden hair
Tarnished with rust,
She that was young and fair
Fallen to dust.
Lily-like, white as snow,
She hardly knew
She was a woman, so
Sweetly she grew.
Coffin-board, heavy stone,
Lie on her breast,
I vex my heart alone
She is at rest.
Peace, Peace, she cannot hear
Lyre or sonnet,
All my life’s buried here,
Heap earth upon it.

Egyedül a tengerrel (Alone with the sea)

Seaside, dusk, little hotel room.
She went away, I will never see her again.
She left one flower on the couch,
I am hugging the worn couch.
Her perfume flies about the room like a kiss.
Below the sea rumbles happily.
One streetlight burns somewhere in the distance,
Come my sweet! Downstairs the ocean is singing.
I am listening to the wild ocean sing, and I am dreaming on the worn couch.
Here she rested, kissed me, and fell into my lap.
The ocean sings, the past sings.

The Seal Man

And he came by her cabin to the west of the road, calling.
There was a strong love came up in her at that,
and she put down her sewing on the table, and "Mother," she says,
"There's no lock, and no key, and no bolt, and no door.
There's no iron, nor no stone, nor anything at all
will keep me this night from the man I love."
And she went out into the moonlight to him,
there by the bush where the flow'rs is pretty, beyond the river.
And he says to her: "You are all of the beauty of the world,
will you come where I go, over the waves of the sea?"
And she says to him: "My treasure and my strength," she says,
"I would follow you on the frozen hills, my feet bleeding."
Then they went down into the sea together,
and the moon made a track [upon]1 the sea, and they walked down it;
it was like a flame before them. There was no fear at all on her;
only a great love like the love of the Old Ones,
that was stronger than the touch of the fool.
She had a little white throat, and little cheeks like flowers,
and she went down into the sea with her man,
who wasn't a man at all.
She was drowned, of course.
It's like he never thought that she wouldn't bear the sea like himself.
She was drowned, drowned.

La mer est plus belle

The sea is more lovely
Than the cathedrals,
A faithful nurse,
A lullaby of a death-rattle,
The sea over which
The Virgin Mary prays!

It has all the qualities,
Terrible and sweet.
I hear its pardons,
Grumbling its ire.
This immensity
Has no obstinacy.

Oh! So patient,
Even when dangerous!
A friendly breath haunts
The wave, and sings to us:
"You, without hope,
Perish without suffering!"

And then, beneath the skies
That mock it by being brighter,
It has the appearance of blue,
Pink, grey, and green...
More lovely than everything,
Better than we!

Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust, from the LiederNet Archive

Je te veux

I have understood your distress,
dear lover,
and I yield to your wish:
make me your mistress.
Modesty shall be far from us,
no more [distress]1,
I long for the precious moment
when we will be happy:
I want you.

I have no regrets,
and I want only one thing:
next to you, there, so close,
to live all of my life.
Let my heart be yours
and your lips be mine,
let your body be mine,
and let all of my flesh be yours.

I have understood your distress, etc.

Yes, I see in your eyes
the divine promise
that your loving heart
comes to seek my caress.
Enlaced forever,
burned with the same flames,
in dreams of love,
we will exchange our two souls.

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2005 by Laura (Pranada) Sylvis

Padam, padam...

This tune that obsesses me day and night
This tune that wasn’t written today
It comes from as far as I come
Brought by 100,000 musicians
One day this tune will drive me crazy
One hundred times I wanted to say why
But it interrupted me
It always speaks before me
And its voice covers my voice

Padam… padam… padam…
It comes running behind me
Padam… padam… padam…
It uses the old trick – remember
Padam… padam… padam…
It’s a tune that points to me
And I drag behind myself like a silly mistake
This tune that knows everything by heart

It says: Recall your lovers
Recall since it’s your turn
There’s no reason for you not to cry
With your leftover memories
And me, I see again what remains
My twenty years have the drum beating
I see movements fighting each other
The entire comedy of lovers
On this tune that always goes (like)
Padam… padam… padam…
“I love yous” from the 14th of July
Padam… padam… padam…
From which we always buy on discount
From bags galore
And all that falls right on the street corner
On the tune that recognized me
Listen to the ruckus it does to me
As if all of my past was parading
You have to keep some sadness for after
I have an entire solfeggio on this beating tune
Which beats like a heart made of wood

Cabaret

What good is sitting alone In your room?
Come hear the music play.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret.
Put down the knitting,
The book and the broom.
It's time for a holiday.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum
Come to the Cabaret.
Come taste the wine,
Come hear the band.
Come blow a horn,
Start celebrating;
Right this way,
Your table's waiting.
What good's permitting
Some prophet of doom
To wipe every smile away.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret!
I used to have a girlfriend
known as Elsie,
With whom I shared
four sordid rooms in Chelsea
She wasn't what you'd call
a blushing flower...
As a matter of fact
she rented by the hour.
The day she died the neighbors
came to snicker:
"Well, that's what comes
from too much pills and liquor."
But when I saw her laid out like a Queen,
She was the happiest... corpse...
I'd ever seen.
I think of Elsie to this very day.
I remember how she'd turn to me and say:
"What good is sitting all alone in you room?
Come hear the music play.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret."
And as for me,
I made my mind up back in Chelsea,
When I go, I'm going like Elsie.
Start by admitting
From cradle to tomb
It isn't that long a stay.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Only a Cabaret, old chum
And I love a Cabaret.