English translations of Cinq Mélodies pour Chant et Piano, opus 32

by Nikolay Aleksandrovich Sokolov (1859 - 1922)

1. Nocturne  [sung text not yet checked]
by Nikolay Aleksandrovich Sokolov (1859 - 1922), "Nocturne", op. 32 (Cinq Mélodies pour Chant et Piano) no. 1, published 1898 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Belaieff
Language: French (Français) 
La lune blanche 
Luit dans les bois ;
De chaque branche 
Part une voix 
Sous la ramée...

Ô bien aimée.

L'étang reflète,
Profond miroir,
La silhouette
Du saule noir
Où le vent pleure...

Rêvons, c'est l'heure.

Un vaste et tendre
Apaisement
Semble descendre
Du firmament
Que l'astre irise...

C'est l'heure exquise.

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by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
1. The white moon
Language: English 
The white moon
shines in the woods.
From each branch 
springs a voice
beneath the arbor.

Oh my beloved...

Like a deep mirror
the pond reflects
the silhouette
of the black willow
where the wind weeps.

Let us dream! It is the hour...

A vast and tender
calm
seems to descend
from a sky
made iridescent by the moon.

It is the exquisite hour!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Grant A. Lewis, (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.
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 64

Translation © by Grant A. Lewis
2. Extase  [sung text not yet checked]
by Nikolay Aleksandrovich Sokolov (1859 - 1922), "Extase", op. 32 (Cinq Mélodies pour Chant et Piano) no. 2, published 1898 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Belaieff
Language: French (Français) 
C'est l'extase langoureuse,
C'est la fatigue amoureuse,
C'est tous les frissons des bois
Parmi l'étreinte des brises,
C'est vers les ramures grises
Le choeur des petites voix.

O le frêle et frais murmure !
Cela gazouille et susurre,
Cela ressemble au [cri]1 doux
Que l'herbe agitée expire...
Tu dirais, sous l'eau qui vire,
Le roulis sourd des cailloux.

Cette âme qui se lamente
[En]2 cette plainte dormante
C'est la nôtre, n'est-ce pas ?
La mienne, dis, et la tienne,
Dont s'exhale l'humble antienne
Par ce tiède soir, tout bas ?

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1 Fauré: "bruit"
2 Fauré: "Et"

by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
2. It is the langorous ecstasy
Language: English 
It is the langorous ecstasy,
It is the fatigue after love,
It is all the rustling of the wood,
In the embrace of breezes;
It is near the gray branches:
A chorus of tiny voices.

Oh, what a frail and fresh murmur!
It babbles and whispers,
It resembles the soft noise
That waving grass exhales.
You might say it were, under the bending stream,
The muffled sound of rolling pebbles.

This soul, which laments
And this dormant moan,
It is ours, is it not?
Is it [not] mine[?] -- tell [me] -- and yours,
Whose humble anthem we breathe
On this mild evening, so very quietly?

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 104

Translation © by Emily Ezust
3. La pluie  [sung text not yet checked]
by Nikolay Aleksandrovich Sokolov (1859 - 1922), "La pluie", op. 32 (Cinq Mélodies pour Chant et Piano) no. 3, published 1898 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Belaieff, also set in Russian (Русский)
Language: French (Français) 
Il [pleure]1 dans mon cœur
Comme il pleut sur la ville ;
Quelle est cette langueur
Qui pénètre mon cœur ?

Ô bruit doux de la pluie,
Par terre et sur les toits !
Pour un cœur qui s'ennuie,
Ô le [chant]2 de la pluie !

Il pleure sans raison
Dans [ce]3 cœur qui s'écœure.
Quoi ! nulle trahison ? ...
[Ce]4 deuil est sans raison.

C'est bien la pire peine,
De ne savoir pourquoi...
Sans amour et sans haine
Mon cœur a tant de peine !

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1 Rostand: "pleut"
2 Debussy: "bruit"
3 Fauré, Rostand: "mon"; Madetoja: "le"
4 Fauré, Rostand: "Mon"

by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
3. There is weeping in my heart
Language: English 
 There is weeping in my heart
 like the rain falling on the town.
 What is this languor
 that pervades my heart?
 
 Oh the patter of the rain
 on the ground and the roofs!
 For a heart growing weary
 oh the song of the rain!
 
 There is weeping without cause
 in this disheartened heart.
 What!  No betrayal?
 There's no reason for this grief.
 
 Truly the worst pain
 is not knowing why,
 without love or hatred,
 my heart feels so much pain.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 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.
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Line count: 16
Word count: 80

Translation © by Peter Low
4. Дождь
by Nikolay Aleksandrovich Sokolov (1859 - 1922), "Дождь", op. 32 (Cinq Mélodies pour Chant et Piano) no. 3, published 1898 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig: M.P. Belaieff, also set in French (Français)
Language: Russian (Русский) 
Льёт горько сердце слёзы
 . . . . . . . . . .

— The rest of this text is not
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added as soon as we obtain it. —

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Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author ( M. A. )

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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
4.
[Translation not yet available]
5. Jour d'été
 (Sung text)
by Nikolay Aleksandrovich Sokolov (1859 - 1922), "Jour d'été", op. 32 (Cinq Mélodies pour Chant et Piano) no. 4, published 1898 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Belaieff
Language: French (Français) 
Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été
Le grand soleil, complice de ma joie,
Sera, parmi le satin et la soie,
Plus belle encor votre chère beauté ;

Le ciel tout bleu, comme une haute tente,
Frissonnera somptueux à longs plis
Sur nos deux fronts heureux qu'auront pâlis
L'émotion du bonheur et l'attente ;

Et quand le soir viendra, l'air sera doux
Qui se jouera, caressant, dans vos voiles,
Et les regards paisibles des étoiles
Bienveillamment souriront aux époux.

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by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
5. And so, it shall be on a bright summer's day
Language: English 
And so, it shall be on a bright summer's day:
The great sun, complicit in my joy,
Shall, amidst the satin and silk,
Make your dear beauty more beauteous still;

The bluest sky, like a tall tent,
Shall ripple in long creases
Upon our two happy foreheads, white
With happiness and anticipation;

And when the evening comes, the caressing breeze
That plays in your veils shall be sweet,
And the peaceful gazes of the stars
Shall smile benevolently upon the lovers.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2007 by Laura L. Nagle, (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.
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This text was added to the website: 2007-02-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 81

Translation © by Laura L. Nagle
6. Soleils couchants
 (Sung text)
by Nikolay Aleksandrovich Sokolov (1859 - 1922), "Soleils couchants", op. 32 (Cinq Mélodies pour Chant et Piano) no. 5, published 1898, lines 1-9,14-16 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Belaieff
Language: French (Français) 
Une aube affaiblie
Verse par les champs
La mélancolie
Des soleils couchants.
La mélancolie
Berce de doux chants
Mon cœur qui s'oublie
Aux soleils couchants.
Et d'étranges rêves,
 ... 
Défilent, pareils
À des grands soleils
Couchants sur les grèves.

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by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
6.
Language: English 
Enfeebled dawn
Pours through the fields
The melancholy
Of setting suns.
The melancholy
Cradles with its sweet songs
My heart, forgetful
Of setting suns.
And in strange dreams,
[ ... ]
File by, equalling
Great suns
Setting on the strand.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2015 by David Wyatt and Emily Wyatt, (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.
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This text was added to the website: 2015-09-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 49

Translation © by David Wyatt, Emily Wyatt