"Je Veux Vivre"
I want to live
Ah! I want to live
In this dream that intoxicates me.
Keep hold of this day!
Sweet flame,
I keep you in my soul like a treasure!
This intoxication of youth
Lasts, alas, no more than a day!
Then comes the time for tears;
The heart gives way to love
And happiness flees, never to return.
Then comes the time for tears;
The heart gives way to love
And happiness flees, never to return.
Far from the gloomy winter
Let me sleep and
breathe the ros'e scent
Before it fades
Ah! Sweet flame,
Stay in my soul
Like a sweet treasure
For a long time yet!
Charles Gonoud's setting of Shakespeare's classic - Roméo et Juliette.
In the opera Juliette sings this joyful declaration of her desire to live life in the moment. The aria takes place in Act 1 when Juliette has just met and danced with Count Pâris, and her maid, Gertrude, is encouraging her to marry him. Juliette responds with this aria, telling Gertrude that she wishes to stay in this intoxicating dream of youth instead of getting married.