This work is based on the first strophes of <a href="http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/La_Chanson_du_mal-aimé">La chanson du mal-aimé</a> by Guillaume Apollinaire. The poem is part of <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=quKbF6JjlYgC&lpg=PP1&pg=PR3#v=onepage&q&f=false">Alcools</a>, a collection published 100 years ago by the French author.