Toujours

 
Vous me demandez de me taire,
De fuir loin de vous pour jamais,
Et de m'en aller solitaire, 
Sans me rappeler qui j'aimais!

Demandez plutôt aux étoiles 
De tomber dans l'immensité,
A la nuit de perdre ses voiles,
Au jour de perdre sa clarté!

Demandez à la mer immense 
De dessécher ses vastes flots,
Et, quand les vents sont en démence,
D'apaiser ses sombres sanglots!

Mais n'espérez pas que mon âme
S'arrache à ses àpres douleurs, 
Et se dépouille de sa flamme
Comme le printemps de ses fleurs.
 
You ask me to be quiet,
to flee from you forever to a distant place,
and to depart alone
without thinking of the one whom I love!
 
You might more easily ask the stars
to fall from the sky,
or the night to lift its veils,
or the day to rid itself of its brightness!
 
Ask the immense ocean
to dry up its vast waters,
and, when the winds are raging dementedly,
ask them to calm their dismal sobbing!
 
But do not hope that my soul
can uproot its sorrow
and douse its flame
as the spring-time can shed its flowers!
 

Alan Raines, Director of Choral Activities at Baylor University,
is a frequent guest conductor and sought-after clinician,
conducting all-state and honor choirs throughout much of the
United States. His guest appearances abroad have taken him to
South Korea, Europe and Russia. Dr. Raines's choirs have performed for
regional conventions of the American Choral Directors Association
and the Georgia Music Educators Association. He is also a member of
the conducting faculty at the summer festival La Musica Lirica in Urbania, Italy.

recording performed by the McIntosh Singers, McIntosh High School
Peachtree City, GA
Franklin Glun, conducting

Click here to see a sample.

Click here to listen to a recording (MP3).