The cricket
Language: English after the French (Français)
Solitary cricket,
Alone here like me,
Voice that rises from the earth,
Oh! awake!
When I was a little girl,
Small as this cradle,
And Marguerite
Would sit at her spindle;
When the autumn wind
Would make everything creak,
Your monotonous cry
Would help me to sleep.
Solitary cricket,
Voice that rises from the earth,
Awake
For me!
Awake.
Sixteen years
I have seen pass;
Nestled in the chimney
You remain.
I hear you still
In the cold seasons,
You, the echoing memory
Of old houses!
I fan the fire
To cheer you;
But there is a soul missing,
A soul from this home!
Solitary cricket,
Voice that rises from the earth,
Awake
For me!
Awake.
Your song is less charming
Than once it was!
Do you then have our tears
In your voice as well?
Do you mourn the grandmother,
The mother and sister?
See how I alone inhabit
This home of the heart!
The crackling hearth,
The renewed cry,
Family voices
Imitate my accent;
My soul buries itself in the sound,
I close my eyes,
And I hear in a dream
My friends in the heavens.
Solitary cricket,
Voice that rises from the earth,
Awake
For me!
Awake.
You tell me things,
You tell me in my heart,
Like a dreamy bird
Tells the roses!
Let it sing for them
As it flies!
Sad and wingless voice,
Be my nightingale!
Solitary cricket,
Voice that rises from the earth,
Awake
For me!
Awake.
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Note: this translation uses Bizet's ordering.
Authorship - Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2007 by Laura L. Nagle, (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.
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Based on
Text added to the website: 2007-12-13.
Last modified: 2014-06-25 11:09:58
Line count: 68
Word count: 244
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