Viens, cherchons cette ombre propice
Language: French (Français)
Viens, [cherchons]1 [cette]2 ombre propice,
Jusqu'à l'heure où de ce séjour
Les fleurs fermeront leur calice
Aux regards languissants du jour.
Voilà ton ciel, ô mon étoile !
Soulève, oh ! soulève ce voile :
Éclaire la nuit de ces lieux ;
Parle, chante, rêve, soupire,
Pourvu que mon regard attire
Un regard errant de tes yeux.
Laisse-moi parsemer de roses
La tendre mousse où tu t'assieds,
Et près du lit où tu reposes
Laisse-moi m'asseoir à tes pieds.
Heureux le gazon que tu foules,
Et le bouton dont tu déroules
Sous tes doigts les fraîches couleurs !
Heureuses ces coupes vermeilles
Que pressent tes lèvres, pareilles
À l'abeille, amante des fleurs !
Si l'onde des lis que tu cueilles
Roule les calices flétris ;
Des tiges que ta bouche effeuille
Si le vent m'apporte un débris ;
Si sa bouche qui se dénoue
Vient, en ondulant sur ma joue,
De ma lèvre effleurer le bord ;
Si ton souffle léger résonne,
Je sens sur mon front qui frissonne
Passer les ailes de la mort.
Souviens-toi de l'heure bénie
Où les dieux, d'une tendre main,
Te répandirent sur ma vie
Comme l'ombre sur la chemin.
Depuis cette heure fortunée,
Ma vie à ta vie enchaînée,
Qui s'écoule comme un seul jour,
Est une coupe toujours pleine,
Où mes lèvres à longue haleine
Puisent l'innocence et l'amour.
Translation(s): ENG
List of language codes
E. Lavigne sets stanzas 1-2, 4
A. Lebeau sets stanzas 1-2, 4
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Œuvres complètes de Lamartine, Tome 1, Paris, chez l'auteur, 1860, pages 478-479.
See also Comme l'ombre sur le chemin by F. Aubin
1 Lebeau: "chercher"
2 Lalo, Lavigne: "une"
Submitted by Emily Ezust [Administrator] and Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
Authorship
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)
- by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "Rêverie", CG. 504 (1849). [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "Chant d'amour", op. CG. 504a (1868). [voice and orchestra] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Ernest Lavigne (1851 - 1909), "Chant d'amour", stanzas 1-2,4. [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Alfred Lebeau (1835 - 1906), "Confidence", published 1869, stanzas 1-2,4. [ sung text checked 1 time]
This text (or a part of it) is used in a work
- by Edouard Lalo (1823 - 1892), "Viens!", published 1880 [voice and piano], title in German: "Komm" ; Mainz, Schott
Set in a modified version by Georges Bizet.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable): - ENG English [singable] (Samuel Byrne) , "Come and seek a nice shady nook"
Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Last modified: 2018-07-06 11:22:43
Line count: 40
Word count: 226
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Come and seek a nice shady nook
Language: English after the French (Français)
Come and seek a nice shady nook, dear,
Until our brief sojourn has passed;
The flowers will close up their sweetness
To the languishing gaze of day.
Behold thy sky, O star of mine!
Lift up, Oh lift up this veil!
And light up the gloom of this place!
Speak, speak and sing, dream and sigh,
If only my gaze attracts
One brief glance, straight from thine eyes!
Let me strew with some lovely flowers
The tender moss where thou dost sit;
And close to the bed where thou dost rest
Let me sit down here at thy feet!
Happy the greensward that is trod by thee!
And the small bud that in thy hand
Has its leaves so fragrant all crushed!
Happy those pink flowers newly cut
That press your rosy lips just like
A flower that's wooed by a bee!
[...
...
... ]
Remember the brief happy moments
When the gods with their tender hands
Poured out gently thy life over mine!
Like a shadow across the road
E'er since that day happy day!
My life to thy life bound secure,
Whose days pass blissful like one calm dream,
Is a cup of joy ever full
Where my lips with a long drawn breath
Drink innocence and pure love.
Note: this is from the Lavigne score.
Submitted by Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Authorship
Based on
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive) [ None yet in the database ]
Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Last modified: 2018-07-06 11:23:16
Line count: 33
Word count: 213
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