Opera title: | Carmen |
Composer: | Georges Bizet |
Language: | French |
Synopsis: | Carmen Synopsis |
Libretto: | Carmen Libretto |
Translation(s): | English Deutsch |
Also known as: | Flower Song |
Type: | aria |
Role(s): | Don José / Carmen |
Voice(s): | Tenor |
Act: | 2.09 |
Previous scene: | Attends un peu, Carmen |
Next scene: | Hola! Carmen! |
Nicolai Gedda (born 11 July 1925) is a Swedish operatic tenor. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely recorded tenor in history. Gedda's singing is best known for his beauty of tone, vocal control, and musical perception...
Lyrics & English Translation
In prison I kept lovingly
The flower you had thrown at me.
Though it had faded and turned dry,
It still smelled sweet as time went by;
And I would put that special flower
On my closed eyes, hour after hour.
Drunk with that fragrance, I felt light,
And there I saw you in the night!
At times I would begin to hate you,
To curse you and to execrate you,
To say: why did it have to be
That fate brought her so close to me!
Then I thought that faith had defied me,
And I only felt deep inside me,
I only felt but one desire,
But one desire, one hope, one yen,
To see you, Carmen, yes, see you again!
For all you needed was to be there,
To throw a fleeting glance my way,
To have full mastery of me there,
Oh, Carmen, dear!
And all you did with me was play!
Carmen, I love you!
Please enjoy!
I send my kind and warm regards,
JOSÉ
La fleur que tu m'avais jetée,
Dans ma prison m'était restée,
Flétrie et sèche, cette fleur
Gardait toujours sa douce odeur;
Et pendant des heures entières,
Sur mes yeux fermant mes paupières
De cette odeur je m'enivrais
Et dans la nuit je te voyais.
Je me prenais à te maudire
À te détester, à me dire:
Pourquoi faut-il que le destin
L'ait mise là sur mon chemin?
Puis je m'accusais de blasphème
Et je ne sentais en moi-même
Qu'un seul désir, un seul espoir,
Te revoir, ô Carmen, oui te revoir! …
Car tu n'avais eu qu'à paraître,
Qu'à jeter un regard sur moi
Pour t'emparer de tout mon être,
Ô ma Carmen.
Et j'étais une chose à toi.
Carmen, je t'aime!
JOSÉ
The flower you had thrown at me
In my prison I had stayed,
Withered and dry, this flower
Always kept its sweet smell;
And for hours,
On my eyes closing my eyelids
From this smell I would get drunk
And in the night I saw you.
I began to curse you
To hate you, to tell me:
Why must destiny
Put it there on my way?
Then I blamed myself for blasphemy
And I did not feel in myself
Only one desire, one hope,
To see you again, O Carmen, yes, see you again! ...
Because you had only to appear,
What to take a look at me
To take hold of all my being,
O my Carmen.
And I was a thing of you.
Carmen, I love you!
Sheetmusic for aria | ![]() |
Sheetmusic for opera | ![]() |
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