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L'eau dans les grands lacs bleus
Endormie,
Est le miroir des cieux:
Mais j'aime mieux les yeux
De ma mie.
Pour que l'ombre parfois
Nous sourie,
Un oiseau chante au bois:
Mais j'aime mieux la voix
De ma mie.
La rosée à la fleur
Défleurie
Sait rendre sa couleur:
Mais j'aime mieux un pleur
De ma mie.
Le temps vient tout briser.
On l'oublie:
Moi, pour le mépriser,
Je ne veux qu'un baiser
De ma mie.
La rose sur le lin
Meurt flétrie:
J'aime mieux pour coussin
Les lèvres et le sein
De ma mie.
On change tour à tour
De folie:
Moi, jusqu'au dernier jour,
Je m'en tiens à l'amour
De ma mie.
H. Bemberg sets stanzas 1-3, 6
Note: The poem is preceded by the following epigraph by Alfred de Musset: "Or, voyez qui je suis, ma mie."
Text Authorship:
- by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), "La Chanson de ma Mie", written 1845, appears in Les Stalactites, no. 8 [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 Hermann Bemberg (1861 - 1931), "La chanson de ma mie", published 1902, stanzas 1-3,6 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maurice Delage (1879 - 1961), "La Chanson de ma Mie", op. 13 (1925?), published 1925 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. Jobert [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (François-Clément) Théodore Dubois (1837 - 1924), "La chanson de ma mie" [ voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, recueil 1, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean-Louis Aristide Hignard (1822 - 1897), "La chanson de ma mie", published [1857] [ high voice and piano ], from Rimes et mélodies, 12 morceaux de chant, no. 8, Paris, Éditions E. Heu [sung text not yet checked]
- by André Messager (1853 - 1929), "La Chanson de ma mie", 1882 [ medium voice and piano ], from Quinze mélodies, no. 4, Paris, Éd. Enoch [sung text not yet checked]
- by Helen Rhodes (1858 - 1936), as Guy d'Hardelot, "La chanson de ma mie", published [1893] [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Léon Grus [sung text not yet checked]
- by L. de Touchimbert , "La Chanson de ma Mie", <<1910 [ medium voice and piano ], from Quatre Mélodies, no. 4, Paris, Éd. J. Roussel [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The song of my sweetheart", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-09-11
Line count: 30
Word count: 114
The water when it sleeps in the large blue lakes is the mirror of the sky: but I prefer the eyes of my sweetheart. In order that the shadows smile at us at times, a bird sings in the woods: but I prefer the voice of my sweetheart. The dew restores to the fading flower its colour; but I prefer the teardrops of my sweetheart. Time wrecks all things, which then are forgotten; but I, contemptuous of time, ask only for a kiss from my sweetheart. The rose on the linen cloth fades and dies; but I prefer to be cushioned by the lips and the breast of my sweetheart. People keep changing from folly to folly; but I till my dying day hold fast to the love of my sweetheart.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 by Peter Low, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), "La Chanson de ma Mie", written 1845, appears in Les Stalactites, no. 8
This text was added to the website: 2022-09-05
Line count: 30
Word count: 131