"If You Go Away" is Rod McKuen's English-language version of the 1959 Jacques Brel song "Ne me quitte pas". Created as part of a larger project to bring Brel's work into English. In the original French version, the singer begs for his lover not to leave him and is more supplicant and almost self-humiliating (the title "Ne me quitte pas" translates as "Do not leave me"). The last image of the French version is significant: although the McKuen version has lyrics that come close to the original sentiment, the French lyrics are far bleaker (as is the song in general): "Let me become the shadow of your shadow, the shadow of your hand, the shadow of your dog" (lit. translation of the original) as opposed to "I'd have been the shadow of your shadow if I thought it might have kept me by your side" (English lyrics).
i must say, Mr. Mckuen did a brilliant job, which is not often the case when translating foreign language lyric into English. Although it is not 100% word to word, still the whole atmosphere of the emotional state was captured.