Viví [J’ai Vécu] [English translation]

When all alone I take

The road to God

And when the calendar he gave me closes

I must give him the inventory

Of my life down here

I will tell him, if it's necessary, that I lived.

That I was born of flesh and blood,

Like everyone else,

That I lived every second and more,

That I lived thanks to that

Which life offered me,

Because man, the best and the worst,

By the very act of being born, is already a sinner.

Without being less optimistic

Than average,

In my testimony at trial I'll say

That I have been an artist,

And that I never was a saint,

And even if I was an egotist yesterday, I lived.

That I lived and didn't ask for more

Than a bit of friendship,

That I lived only for happiness,

That I lived without piety,

And that's what I fear most,

Although I know that God ought to know how to pardon,

As he tells men to do.

If my credentials

Should be too little for him,

Or if they're flimsy, I'll tell him,

That among all mortals,

I have been the happiest,

And I'm not afraid to confess to him that I lived.

That I lived at full sail,

Every day a new love,

That among women I lived the best,

That I lived in their names,

And I've always carried inside of me,

The most ardent and frenzied passion,

Without having lived long, I must say

That I lived... happy.