by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)
Translation © by Amy Pfrimmer

S'il est un charmant gazon
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  CAT CHI ENG ENG ITA
S'il est un charmant gazon
  Que le ciel arrose,
Où brille en toute saison
  Quelque fleur éclose,
Où l'on cueille à pleine main
Lys, chèvrefeuille et jasmin,
J'en veux faire le chemin
  Où ton pied se pose !

S'il est un sein bien aimant
  Dont l'honneur dispose !
Dont le ferme dévoûement
  N'ait rien de morose,
Si toujours ce noble sein
Bat pour un digne dessein,
J'en veux faire le coussin
  Où ton front se pose !

S'il est un rêve d'amour,
  Parfumé de rose,
Où l'on trouve chaque jour
  Quelque douce chose,
Un rêve que Dieu bénit,
Où l'âme à l'âme s'unit,
Oh ! j'en veux faire le nid
  Où ton cœur se pose !

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   F. d'Erlanger •   G. Fauré •   F. Liszt •   F. Liszt 

F. Liszt sets stanzas 1, 3 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
F. Liszt sets stanzas 1, 3 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
F. d'Erlanger sets stanzas 1, 3
C. Widor sets stanzas 1, 3

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Confirmed with Poésies de Victor Hugo: Odes & Ballades, Les Orientales, Les Feuilles d'Automne, Les Chants du Crépuscule, Les Voix Intérieures, Les Rayons & Les Ombres, Paris, Hetzel, 1880, p. 67.


Text Authorship:

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Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 114

If there is a charming lawn
NOTE: the footnotes have been removed from this text; return to general view
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
If there is a charming lawn 
  which heaven waters, 
where shining in every season 
  is some blooming flower,
Where one picks hands full 
  of lilies, honeysuckle and jasmine, 
I would like to make of it a pathway 
  where your foot might step!

If there is a loving breast 
  where honor lives! 
Whose firm devotion 
  is never morose,
If always this noble breast 
beats for a worthy purpose, 
I wish to make of it the cushion
  on which your head might rest!

If there is a dream of love 
  perfumed with roses, 
where every day we find 
  some sweet thing,
a dream that God blesses, 
where souls are united, 
oh! I wish to make of it the nest
  where your heart might remain!

About the headline (FAQ)

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Translations of title(s):
"Rêve d'amour" = "Dream of love"
"Chanson d'Amour" = "Song of love"
"Une vieille chanson " = "An old song"
"S'il est un charmant gazon" = "If there is a charming lawn"
"Le chemin, le coussin et le nid" = "The pathway, the cushion, and the nest"
"Nouvelle chanson" = "New song"
"S'il est un rêve d’amour !" = "If it is a dream of love!"
"Chanson" = "Song"
"Nouvelle chanson sur un vieil air" = "New song on an old air"


Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 by Amy Pfrimmer, (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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This text was added to the website: 2019-07-04
Line count: 24
Word count: 123