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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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

Sois heureuse, ô ma douce amie
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG
    Sois heureuse, ô ma douce amie,
Salue en paix la vie et jouis des beaux jours ;
Sur le fleuve du temps mollement endormie,
    Laisse les flots suivre leur cours !

Va, le sort te sourit encore ;
Le ciel ne peut vouloir, dissipe tout effroi,
Qu'un jour triste succède à ta joyeuse aurore.
Le ciel doit m'écouter quand pour toi je l'implore.
Notre avenir commun ne pèse que sur moi.

    Bientôt tu peux m'être ravie ;
Peut-être, loin de toi, demain j'irai languir.
Quoi, déjà tout est sombre et fatal dans ma vie !
    J'ai dû t'aimer, je dois te fuir !

Puis, - hélas ! sur mon front que le malheur retombe !
Il faudra qu'à l'absence, à de nouveaux désirs,
    Un sentiment bien doux succombe ;
    Tu m'oublîras dans les plaisirs,
    Je me souviendrai dans la tombe.

Oui, je mourrai ; déjà ma lyre en est en deuil.
Jeune, je m'éteindrai, laissant peu de mémoire,
Sans peur ; puisque de front j'ai contemplé la gloire,
    Je puis voir de près le cercueil.

L'élysée immortel est près des noirs royaumes,
Et la gloire et la mort ne sont que deux fantômes,
    En habits de fête ou de deuil !

    Vis heureuse, ô ma jeune amie,
    Jouis en paix de tes beaux jours !
Sur le fleuve du temps mollement endormie,
    Laisse les flots suivre leur cours !

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   F. Grast •   C. Widor 

F. Grast sets stanzas 1-3
C. Widor sets stanzas 1, 3

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Premier soupir", written 1819, appears in Odes et Ballades, in 5. Odes, Livre Cinquième - 1819-1828, no. 1 [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 Gabriel Grast (1803 - 1871), "Un adieu", stanzas 1-3 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Charles Marie Jean Albert Widor (1844 - 1937), "Sois heureuse", op. 22 no. 1 (1875), stanzas 1,3 [ medium voice and piano ], from Quarante mélodies, no. 7, Éd. J. Hamelle ; note: also published as op. 22 no. 4 in 6 Mélodies as reprinted by Durand [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (Amy Pfrimmer) , "Be Happy", copyright © 2023, (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: 29
Word count: 215

Be Happy
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
Be happy, oh my sweet beloved one, 
embrace life in peace and take pleasure in beautiful days;
On the softly sleeping river of time, 
let the waves follow their course!

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Soon you may be taken from me; 
Perhaps, tomorrow I will languish far from you.
Whatever happens, my entire life is already destined for darkness! 
I had to love you, so I must escape from you!

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Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in French (Français) by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Premier soupir", written 1819, appears in Odes et Ballades, in 5. Odes, Livre Cinquième - 1819-1828, no. 1
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2023-06-04
Line count: 29
Word count: 66

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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