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Vois-tu comme la mer est vaste autour de nous ? Notre barque est une algue errant aux creux des lames ; Le vent nocturne et froid qui court sur les remous Mêle au frisson des flots le frisson de nos âmes. Pareils aux alcyons qui flottent dans leurs nids, Nous berçons notre exil sur le désert de l’onde, Et la nuit nous écrase entre deux infinis : Mais nos cœurs sont plus grands que la mer n’est profonde. L'azur illimité se déroule, sans voir La frêle nef qui glisse en balançant ses voiles : Mais les mondes d'amour que porte ce point noir Versent plus de rayons que les deux n'ont d'étoiles. Oh, rends-moi ta caresse, et dis si tu comprends, Quand ta lèvre m’appelle et quand mon bras t’enlace, Que nos cœurs étoilés puissent être si grands, Et que tant de bonheur tienne si peu de place !
A. Maddison sets stanzas 1-2, 4
Confirmed with Edmond Haraucourt, Seul, Paris, Bibliothèque-Charpentier, 1891, pages 249-250.
Text Authorship:
- by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941), "Soir en mer", written 1891, appears in Seul, in 3. La possession, no. 22, Paris, Éd. Bibliothèque Charpentier, first published 1891 [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 Raoul Gradis (1861 - 1943), "Soir en mer" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adela Maddison (c1862 - 1929), "Soir en mer", published 1904, stanzas 1-2,4 [ voice and piano ], from Cinq mélodies sur des poèmes d'Edmond Haraucourt, no. 4, Paris, Éd J. Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Lucy Fitz Gibbon) , "Evening at sea", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Lucy Fitz Gibbon
This text was added to the website: 2020-01-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 144
Do you see how vast the sea is around us? Our boat is errant seaweed in the hollow of the waves. The night wind is cold which runs along the eddies Mixing the shiver of swells with the shiver of our souls. Like to corals which float in their nests, We rock to sleep our exile on the desert of the wave. And the night crushes us between two infinities But our hearts are larger than the sea is deep [... ... ... ...] Oh caress me, and tell me if you understand When your lips call to me and when my arms embrace you That our starry hearts could be so large, And that so much happiness could take up such little space!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2020 by Lucy Fitz Gibbon, (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 Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941), "Soir en mer", written 1891, appears in Seul, in 3. La possession, no. 22, Paris, Éd. Bibliothèque Charpentier, first published 1891
This text was added to the website: 2020-01-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 120