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Viens! enfant, la terre s'éveille, Le soleil rit au gazon vert! La fleur au calice entr'ouvert Reçoit les baisers de l'abeille. Respirons cet air pur! Environs-nous d'azur! Là-haut sur la colline Viens cueillir l'aubepine! La neige des pommiers Parfume les sentiers. Viens! enfant, voici l'hirondelle, Qui passe en chantant dans les airs; Ouvre ton âme aux frais concerts Eclos sous la feuille nouvelle. Un vent joyeux, là-bas, Frémit dans les lilas; C'est la saison bénie, C'est l'amour, c'est la vie! Qu'un fleuve de bonheur Innonde notre coeur. Viens! enfant, c'est l'heure charmante Où l'on voudrait rêver à deux; Mêlons nos rêves et nos voeux Sous cette verdure naissante; Salut, règne des fleurs, Des parfums, des couleurs! Les suaves haleines Voltigent sur les plaines; Le coeur épanoui Se perd dans l'infini!
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Eugène Tourneux (1809 - 1867), no title, appears in Chants et Prières, poésies, par Ch. de Maricourt et Eugène Tourneux, Paris, Éd. Desessart, first published 1838 [author's text not yet checked 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 Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "Chanson de printemps", CG 359 (1849), published 1860 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Andreas Johann Lorenz Oechsner (1815 - 1886), "Chanson du Printemps", op. 28 [ soprano, piano, and violin or viola or cello ], Éd. S. Richault [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Stanfield Prichard) , "Spring song", copyright © 2016, (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: 30
Word count: 130
Come, child! The earth awakens, The sun smiles on th green grass! The flower’s partly opened chalice Receives the kisses of the honeybee. Let us breathe this pure air! Let us become drunk on the blue sky! Up over there, at top of the hill, Come with me and pick hawthorn! Flurries of apple blossoms Perfume the paths. Come, child! Here’s the swallow, who passes, singing through the air; Open your soul to the fresh concerts Blooming beneath the new leaves. A joyful wind from over yonder Flutters through the lilacs; It’s the blessed season, It’s love, it’s life! May a river of happiness Flood our hearts. Come, child! It’s the charmed hour When one would like to dream two by two1. Let’s mingle our dreams and our wishes Beneath this newly born verdure; Hail, kingdom of flowers, Of perfumes, of colors! Sweet breaths of air Waft over the plains; The joyful heart looses itself in infinity!
1 literally, "by two" – in a couple or pair
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Stanfield 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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Eugène Tourneux (1809 - 1867), no title, appears in Chants et Prières, poésies, par Ch. de Maricourt et Eugène Tourneux, Paris, Éd. Desessart, first published 1838
This text was added to the website: 2016-10-22
Line count: 30
Word count: 159