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Dans le cèdre, des colombes se sont posées pour la nuit. Longtemps hésitantes, elles avaient tournoyé au-dessus de l'arbre solitaire. Maintenant elles vont s'endormir. Comme chaque nuit, au sommet de la plus haute branche, un rossignol chantera. Ainsi je berce souvent ton sommeil de paroles d'amour. Je crois que le même instinct guide les colombes et les jeunes filles vers les jardins où chantent les rossignols.
Text Authorship:
- by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le sommeil des colombes", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 5, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1911 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Arabic (العربية) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Louis Aubert (1877 - 1968), "Le sommeil des colombes", 1917, published 1917 [ medium voice and piano or orchestra ], from Six poèmes arabes, no. 4, Paris, Édition Durand [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Constantin Brăiloiu (1893 - 1958), "Le sommeil des colombes", 1912, published 1913 [ high voice, piano, violin, violoncello ], from Trois poèmes arabes, no. 2, Paris, Éditions Albert Zunz Mathot [sung text not yet checked]
- by André-Marie Cuvelier (d. 1947), "Le sommeil des colombes", 1922/1936 [ high voice and piano ], from Chansons pour Hélène, 1er recueil, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean Déré (1886 - 1970), "Le sommeil des colombes", published 1921 [ voice and piano ], from Quatre chants arabes, no. 3, Éd. Maurice Sénart (Salabert) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacqueline Despas (1893 - 1968), "Le sommeil des colombes", published 1923 [ medium voice and piano ], from Poèmes Arabes, no. 2, Paris, Éd. Jobert [sung text not yet checked]
- by M.-A. Guyot , "Le Sommeil des colombes" [ voice and piano ], from Deux mélodies, no. 1, Paris : éditions Maurice Sénart, 1926 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julien-Fernand Vaubourgoin (1880 - 1952), "Le sommeil des colombes", published 1927 [ voice and piano ], Bordeaux, Paris : Delmouly-Degorge, G. Berger [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Sleep of Doves", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2013-12-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 66
In the cedar, doves have settled for the night. Hesitating for a long while, they had circled above the solitary tree. Now they are about to go to sleep. As on all nights, at the top of the highest branch a nightingale will sing. So do I often beguile your sleep with words of love. I believe the same instinct guides doves and young girls towards gardens where nightingales sing.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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 Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le sommeil des colombes", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 5, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1911
Based on:
- a text in Arabic (العربية) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2026-02-22
Line count: 14
Word count: 70