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Dis-moi, mobile étoile aux ailes de lumière, Qui poursuis dans l’azur ton vol mystérieux, Où va ta course ? est-il un but à ta carrière ? Cloras-tu quelque part tes ailes dans les cieux ? Dis-moi, lune pensive, ô pâle voyageuse ! Cheminant aux déserts du firmament lacté, Dans quelle profondeur obscure ou lumineuse, Ô lune ! cherches-tu le repos souhaité ? Dis-moi, vent fatigué qui vas à l’aventure, Comme un déshérité sans foyer ni repos, Est-il un nid secret au fond de la nature, Est-il un nid pour toi dans l’arbre ou sur les flots ? Dis-moi, mer tourmentée au murmure sauvage, Qui te plains à la nuit, qui te plains au soleil, Par delà l’horizon est-il quelque rivage Où tu doives trouver ton lit et le sommeil ? Et toi, cœur inquiet, plus agité que l’onde, Plus errant que la brise et qu’un rien fait gémir, Est-il un lieu béni, dans l’un ou l’autre monde, Où tu puisses, mon cœur, oublier et dormir ?
About the headline (FAQ)
The poem has the following epigraph: Tell me, moon, thou pale and grey
Pilgrim of heaven’s homeless way,
In what depth of night or day
Seekest thou repose now?
--SHELLEY.
Text Authorship:
- by Auguste Lacaussade (1815 - 1897), title 1: "Rêverie", title 2: "Rêverie", appears in Poésies, Les épaves, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1896 [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 François Berthet (1873 - 1956), "Rêverie", op. 11 no. 2 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Rouart-Lerolle; note: the sung text begins with stanza 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henriette Boorn-Coclet (1866 - 1945), "Rêverie" [ high voice and piano ], Éd. Eugène Baudoux et Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mathilde Desliens , "Rêverie", published [1906] [ voice and piano ], Éd. Gustave Legouix [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fernand-Gustave Halphen (1872 - 1917), "Dis-moi, mobile étoile ?", published 1890 [ voice and piano ], Paris : Durand & Shoenewerk Editeurs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Helena Munktell (1852 - 1919), "Invocation poëtique", subtitle: "Méditation", 1885 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-06-12
Line count: 20
Word count: 157
Tell me, moving star with wings of light, pursuing your mysterious flight in the heavens, where does your journey lead? Does it have a goal? Will you fold your wings somewhere in the sky? Tell me, pensive moon, pale traveller, crossing the deserts of the milky firmament, in what dark or luminous depths are you seeking, oh moon, the repose you wish for? Tell me, tired wind blowing haphazardly like a disinherited son without home or rest, is there a secret nest in the depths of nature, a nest for you in the trees or on the waves? Tell me, tormented sea with your wild rumbling, complaining to the night and to the sun, is there beyond the horizon some shore where you need to find your bed and your slumber? And you, anxious heart, more agitated than the waves, more wandering than the breeze, and apt to groan at nothing, is there a blessed spot in this world or another where you, my heart, can forget and sleep?
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "Rêverie" = "Reverie"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 Auguste Lacaussade (1815 - 1897), title 1: "Rêverie", title 2: "Rêverie", appears in Poésies, Les épaves, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1896
This text was added to the website: 2022-12-12
Line count: 20
Word count: 169