Les cloches de la mer
Language: French (Français)
Parfois, pendant les longues heures,
de la nuit, quand grondent les mers,
on entend des cloches qui pleurent
dans les rocs aux goemons verts.
Elles sonnent au loin, dans l'ombre,
le glas des marins trépassés,
martyrs dont croit toujours le nombre:
La mer n'en a jamais assez.
Cloches sinistres des abimes
par vos éternelles clameurs
croyez-vous expier leurs crimes
et des veuves tarir les pleurs?
Vos prières sont des blasphèmes!
La Nature, mère des deuils
qui brise les naufragés blemes
contra la frange des écueils,
en vain par votre voix adjure
les veuves et les orphelins
de ceux qu'elle jette en pature
à la tempete, aux flots félins:
Car tous, pendant de longues heures,
de la nuit, quand grondent les mers,
maudiront les cloches qui pleurent
dans les rocs aux goemons verts,
sonnant au loin, là-bas dans l'ombre,
sous le souffle des vents glacés,
pour les deuils dont s'accroit le nombre,
le glas des marins trépassés.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Rebecca Lohnes) , title 1: "The bells of the sea", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Caroline Diehl
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 28
Word count: 156
The bells of the sea
Language: English after the French (Français)
Sometimes, during the long hours
Of the night, when seas roar,
One can hear the bells crying
In the green, seaweed-covered rocks.
Far away they ring, in the shadows,
The death knell for sailors passed away,
Martyrs forever increasing in number:
The sea is never satisfied.
Sinister bells of the depths
By your eternal clamor
Do you think you can atone for their crime
And stop the widows' tears?
Your prayers are blasphemy!
Nature, mother of grief,
Who breaks the pale, ship-wrecked men
Against the shallow rocks,
In vain by your voice admonishes
The widows and orphans
Of those she gave as food
To the storm, to the feline waves:
For all, during the long hours
Of the night, when seas roar,
Will curse the bells which cry
In the green, seaweed-covered rocks,
Ringing far away, there in the shadows,
Beneath the breath of icy winds,
Forever increasing mourning,
The death knell of sailors passed away.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2012 by Rebecca Lohnes, (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:
This text was added to the website: 2012-03-27
Line count: 28
Word count: 156
