The sower | Standing over the gaping furrow, the old sower

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by Armand Silvestre (1837 - 1901)

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Le semeur

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Debout sur le sillon béant, le vieux semeur
En cadence y fait choir la graine nourricière ;
Les corbeaux, attentifs à son prudent labeur,
Avides pélerins, cheminent par derrière,

Nous semons nos espoirs, tout le long du chemin,
Aux sillons de l'amour, aux vent du lendemain !
-- Le temps, sombre corbeau toujours en sentinelle,
Dévore [sur nos pas la semence éternelle]¹ !

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• A. Castillon

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Castillon: "sous nos pas la semence immortelle"

Text Authorship:

by Armand Silvestre (1837 - 1901), "Le semeur", appears in La vie, in 2. La vie des choses : Tableaux et paysages [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Alexis de Castillon (1838 - 1873), "Le semeur", op. 8 no. 2 (1869), published 1869 [medium voice and piano or orchestra], from Six poésies d'Armand Silvestre, no. 2, Éd. Heugel [ sung text verified 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "The sower", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 60

The sower

Language: English after the French (Français)

Standing over the gaping furrow, the old sower
Scatters the nourishing grain in a steady cadence;
The ravens, attending to his prudent labor,
Greedy pilgrims, fall in right behind him,

We sow our hopes, all along the way,
In the furrows of love, in the wind of the morning after!
-- Time, a dark raven, always on watch,
Devours from under our feet the ever-lasting seed!

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2018 by Laura Prichard, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Armand Silvestre (1837 - 1901), "Le semeur", appears in La vie, in 2. La vie des choses : Tableaux et paysages
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2018-01-08
Line count: 8
Word count: 65