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Jewish Poems
Song Cycle by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
View original-language texts alone: Poèmes Juifs
Dors, ma fleur, mon fils chéri; pendant que je balancerai ton berceau, je vais te dire le conte de ta vie. Je commence par te prévenir que tu es un Hébreu, Que tu as Israël pour nom et que c'est là ton titre de noblesse. Ô mon chéri, quand tu seras avec des gens étrangers à ton peuple, ne sois pas honteux devant leurs insultes mais responds-leur bien haut. Oh! je te prie, sois sans peur aucune, dis leur: "Ne suis-je pas le descendant des saints, fils du peuple eternal?" Fils du peuple éternellement persécuté malheureux comme point d'autre, glorieux quand même, car il dure, et cela depuis des siècles et cela pour toujours. Ne désespère point, mon fils chéri parceque ton peuple est en exil. Crois plutôt que le soleil de la justice un jour brillera sur nous. Souviens-toi sans cesse que nous avons un pays, là-bas, très loin, que c'est vers lui que l'âme de tout juif aspire avec ardeur. Sur ses monts, dans ses champs délicieux tu deviendras ce que tu voudras: vigneron, berger, planteur, jardinier, tu vivras paisible.... Dors ma fleur, mon fils chéri.
Authorship:
- by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "Song of the Nurse", copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Sleep, my flower, my dear son. While I rock your cradle, I will tell you the story of your life. I will start by saying that you are a Hebrew, that your name is Israel, and that this is your title of nobility. Darling, when you are with those who do not know your people, do not be ashamed before their insults, but answer them aloud. I pray you, be fearless. Say, "Am I not descended from the holy ones, the son of the eternal people?", the son of the eternally persecuted people, unhappy like no other but still glorious, for it has endured for centuries and will endure forever. Do not despair, my darling son, because your people is in exile. Rather, believe that the sun of justice will shine on us one day. Never forget that we have a country, very far away, and that calls out to the soul of all Jews. On its mountains, in its delicious fields, you will become whatever you want to be: vinedresser, shepherd, planter, gardener, you will live in peace... Sleep, my flower, my dear son.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2002 by Faith J. Cormier, (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 Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 29
Word count: 186
Ce n'est la rosée ni la pluie, ce sont mes larmes qui arrosent, Ô Sion, tes montagnes. Ce n'est pas le feu ni le soleil, c'est notre sang qui fait rougir, Ô Sion, tes cieux! Et une vapeur monte, formée des larmes de nos yeux jusqu'au ciel, et devient de la pluie, Et ces eaux douces apaisent notre esprit, l'esprit de ceux qui pleurent Jerusalem. Ces larmes des yeux sont une consolation pour l'âme, un remède au coeur brisé; ce sont elles qui fortifient les coeurs abattus et qui apaisent l'âme agitée.
Authorship:
- by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (John Glenn Paton) , "Song of Zion", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
It is neither dew nor rain, it is my tears that bedew your mountains, o Zion. It is neither fire nor sun, but our blood that reddens your skies, o Zion. And a mist rises, formed of the tears of our eyes, clear to heaven, and becomes rain, and these sweet waters calm our spirit, the spirit of those who mourn for Jerusalem. These tears of our eyes are a consolation, a healing for the broken heart. It is they that strengthen battered hearts and calm the agitated soul.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by John Glenn Paton, (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 Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 90
Mon espérance n'est pas encore perdue, Ô patrie douce aimée, de trouver sur ton sol un coin pour m'y établir avant que ma fin n'arrive... une maisonnette sur le sommet d'une colline au milieu d'un jardin de légumes et d'arbres fruitiers, une vigne abondante en grappes, une source limpide jaillissant avec bruit. Là-bas, sous le feuillage d'un arbre touffu je travaillerai, je respirerai légèrement. Devant les ruines environnantes j'épancherai mon coeur, je demanderai a quand la fin de la colère? Mais lorsqu'aux confins des vallées j'entendrai le chant de mes frères vigoureux je dirai voilà la fin des tristesses! Voilà la fin des malheurs.
Authorship:
- by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (John Glenn Paton) , "Song of a Worker", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
My hope is not yet lost, o sweetly beloved homeland, of finding on your soil a little corner to settle down in before my end arrives... A cottage on top of a hill, surrounded by a vegetable garden and fruit trees, a vineyard of abundant grapes, a clear spring that gushes noisily. There under the foliage of a luxuriant tree I shall work, I shall breathe easily. Before the surrounding ruins I shall pour out my heart, I shall ask: when will the anger end? But while from the edges of the valleys I hear the song of my vigorous brothers, I shall say: Behold the end of the days! Behold the end of our miseries!
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by John Glenn Paton, (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 Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 19
Word count: 117
Dans les champs de Bethléem, une pierre se dresse solitaire, antique tombe. Mais dès que minuit sonne, on voit une Beauté quitter sa demeure souterraine pour venir sur la terre. Là voilà qui chemine silencieuse vers le Jourdain. Là voilà qui silencieusement contemple les ondes sacrées. Une larme tombe alors de son oeil pur dans les ondes paisibles du fleuve. Et doucement les larmes s'écoulent l'une après l'autre, tombent dans le Jourdain, emportées entrainées par le mystère des eaux.
Authorship:
- by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (John Glenn Paton) , "Song of Pity", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
In the fields of Bethlehem a stone stands upright, solitary: an ancient tomb. But as soon as midnight sounds, one sees a beauty leave her underground dwelling to come up onto the earth. Behold her as she makes her way silently toward the Jordan. See her silently contemplate the sacred currents. A tear falls then from her pure eye into the peaceful currents of the river. And gently the tears run one after another, fall into the Jordan, carried away, drawn away by the mystery of the waters.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by John Glenn Paton, (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 Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 88
Prends mon âme, fais en une lyre brillante avec les muscles de mon coeur fais des cordes, Et fais-les longues jusqu'au ciel. Et tes mains, ô muse, allonge-les sans cesse. Que les fibres de mon coeur murmurent et frémissent afin d'exprimer ma douleur immense, ma misère sans nom, afin que les cieux laissent couler des torrents de larmes et que le crépuscule et l'aube en soient éternellement noyés.
Authorship:
- by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "Song of resignation", copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Take my soul, make it into a shining lyre, make its strings from the muscles of my heart. Make them long enough to reach to heaven, and your hands, oh Muse, ever longer and longer. Let the fibers of my heart murmur and tremble to express my immense pain and nameless misery so that the heavens will shed floods of tears, eternally drowning the dawn and the dusk.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2002 by Faith J. Cormier, (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 Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 68
En même temps que tous les bourgeons la Rose de mon coeur se réveille, elle aussi, aux chants des étoiles matinales et nocturnes, la Rose de mon coeur s'épanche, elle aussi. Lorsque le rossignol fit entendre sa voix, Mon coeur se fondit en larmes; Lorsque la nature s'endormit autour de moi, mes rêves se réveillèrent. Des myriades d'étoiles sont là haut au ciel, unique est l'Étoile qui éclaire mes ténèbres.
Authorship:
- by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (John Glenn Paton) , "Song of love", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
At the same time as all of the buds, the Rose of my heart awakens, it too. At the songs of morning and evening stars the Rose of my heart overflows, it too. When the nightingale let its voice be heard, my heart melted in tears. While nature fell asleep around me, my dreams woke up. Myriads of stars are up in the sky; only one Star lights up my darkness.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by John Glenn Paton, (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 Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 72
Près du Joudain il y a une maison de forgeron, Un forgeron alerte comme un cavalier y fait sa besogne. Et en soufflant il y attise la flame, souffle, souffle, cela entretient la flamme, le feu éternel qui brûle dessous. Que fais-tu là ô forgeron? Je suis en train de préparer le fer pour le cheval du Messie.
Authorship:
- by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "Song of the Blacksmith", copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Near the Jordan is the house of a blacksmith. A smithy, alert as a horseman, labors there. He blows on the fire, blows, blows, to maintain the eternal flame burning below. What are you doing, oh blacksmith? I am making shoes for the Messiah's horse.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2002 by Faith J. Cormier, (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 Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 46
Au ciel sept chérubins silencieux comme les rêves font la besogne. Devant le trône de sa gloire ils se tiennent en rond. C'est là qu'ils préparent des étoffes lumineuses pour le Messie. Tout ce qui est sublime, Tout ce qui est majestueux, Tout ce qui est beau, Tout ce qui est noble, Tout ce qui est bon et pur. Et ceci, ils le prennent avec tout ce qui est clarté et Lumière. Et les anges, les sept chérubins, élèvent leurs voix d'abandonnés, voix de sanglots et de plaintes. Et jusqu'à ce jour elle n'est pas encore achevée l'âme du Messie.
Authorship:
- by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (John Glenn Paton) , "Lamentation", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
In heaven seven cherubim, as silent as dreams, are working. Before the throne of His glory they stand in a circle. It is there that they prepare the luminous materials for the Messiah: all that is sublime, all that is majestic, all that is beautiful, all that is noble, all that is good and pure. And they take it with all that is brightness and light, and the angels, the seven cherubim, raise their voices of resignation, voices of sobs and laments. And until the present day, it still is not accomplished: the soul of the Messiah!
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by John Glenn Paton, (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 Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
Based on:
- a text in Hebrew (עברית) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [text unavailable]
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 98