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Ces étrangers

Song Cycle by Jake Heggie (b. 1961)

View original-language texts alone: These Strangers

1. These Strangers, in a foreign World

(Sung text)

Language: English

These Strangers, in a foreign World,
Protection asked of me —
Befriend them, lest Yourself in Heaven
Be found a Refugee —

Text Authorship:

by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), written 1864

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by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

1. Ces Étrangers, dans un Monde étranger

Language: French (Français)

Ces Étrangers, dans un Monde étranger,
M'ont demandé Protection —
Traitez-les en amis, de peur que Vous-même au Paradis
Ne vous retrouviez Réfugié —

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2018 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), written 1864
- Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2018-03-14
Line count: 4
Word count: 24

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

2. In the midst of thousands

(Sung text)

Language: English

There I was in the midst of thousands, and yet a perfect stranger;
without home and without friends, in the midst of thousands of my own brethren —
children of a common Father,
and yet I dared not to unfold to any one of them my sad condition.
I was afraid to speak to any one for fear of speaking to the wrong one,
and thereby falling into the hands of money-loving kidnappers,
whose business it was to lie in wait for the panting fugitive,
as the ferocious beasts of the forest lie in wait for their prey.

Text Authorship:

by Frederick Douglass (1818 - 1895), written 1845

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by Frederick Douglass (1818 - 1895)

2. Au milieu de milliers

Language: French (Français)

J'étais là au milieu de milliers et pourtant un parfait étranger ;
sans maison et sans amis, au milieu de milliers de mes frères,
enfants d'un père commun,
et pourtant je n'osais pas dévoiler à aucun d'eux ma triste condition.
J'avais peur de parler à quiconque par crainte de parler à la mauvaise personne,
et par là de tomber aux mains de kidnappeurs aimant l'argent,
dont le travail est de se cacher en attendant le fugitif haletant
comme les bêtes féroces se cachent en attendant leur proie.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2018 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Frederick Douglass (1818 - 1895), written 1845
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2018-03-15
Line count: 8
Word count: 86

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

3. I did not speak out

(Sung text)

Language: English

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out
 [ ... ]

Text Authorship:

by Martin Niemöller (1892 - 1984), "I did not speak out", copyright ©

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This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.

3. Je n'ai rien dit

Language: French (Français)

D'abord ils sont venus pour les communistes et je n'ai rien dit
 [ ... ]

Text Authorship:

Based on:

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This text was added to the website: 2018-03-15
Line count: 10
Word count: 88

4. To a Stranger

(Sung text)

Language: English

Passing stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you,
You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking,
  (it comes to me, as of a dream,)
I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you,
All is recall'd as we flit by each other, fluid, affectionate,
  chaste, matured,
You grew up with me, were a boy with me or a girl with me,
I ate with you and slept with you,
  your body has become not yours only nor left my body mine only,
You give me the pleasure of your eyes, face, flesh, as we pass,
  you take of my beard, breast, hands, in return,
I am not to speak to you, I am to think of you when I sit alone
  or wake at night alone,
I am to wait, I do not doubt I am to meet you again,
I am to see to it that I do not lose you.

Text Authorship:

by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

See other settings of this text.

by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

4. À un étranger

Language: French (Français)

Étranger qui passe ! tu ne sais pas avec quelle impatience je te regarde,
Tu dois être celui que je cherchais, ou celle que je cherchais,
  (cela me vient comme un rêve),
J'ai quelque part sûrement vécu une vie de joie avec toi,
Tout revient, comme nous marchions côte à côte, fluides, affectueux,
  chastes, mûrs,
Tu as grandi avec moi, tu étais un garçon avec moi, ou une fille avec moi,
je mangeais avec toi, et je dormais avec toi
  ton corps n'est pas seulement devenu le tien, ni mon corps resté seulement le mien,
Tu me donnes le plaisir de tes yeux, de ton visage, de ta chair, comme nous passons,
  tu prends de ma barbe, ma poitrine, mes mains en retour,
Je ne vais pas te parler -- je vais penser à toi quand je suis assis seul,
  ou que je suis éveillé la nuit seul,
Je vais attendre -- je ne doute pas que je vais te rencontrer à nouveau,
Je vais voir à ne pas te perdre.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2018 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2018-03-15
Line count: 15
Word count: 168