Jewish Poems

Song Cycle by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)

View original-language texts alone: Poèmes Juifs

1. Chant de nourrice
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
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.

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by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
1. Song of the Nurse
Language: English 
 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.

Text 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.
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 29
Word count: 186

Translation © by Faith J. Cormier
2. Chant de Sion
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
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.

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by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
2. Song of Zion
Language: English 
 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.

Text 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.
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 90

Translation © by John Glenn Paton
3. Chant du laboureur
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
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.

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by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
3. Song of a Worker
Language: English 
 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!

Text 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.
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 19
Word count: 117

Translation © by John Glenn Paton
4. Chant de la pitié
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
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.

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by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
4. Song of Pity
Language: English 
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.

Text 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.
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 88

Translation © by John Glenn Paton
5. Chant de résignation
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
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.

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by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
5. Song of resignation
Language: English 
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.

Text 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.
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 68

Translation © by Faith J. Cormier
6. Chant d'amour
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
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.

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by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
6. Song of love
Language: English 
 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.

Text 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.
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 72

Translation © by John Glenn Paton
7. Chant de Forgeron
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
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.

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by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
7. Song of the Blacksmith
Language: English 
 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.

Text 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.
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 46

Translation © by Faith J. Cormier
8. Lamentation
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
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.

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by Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)
8. Lamentation
Language: English 
 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!

Text 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.
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 98

Translation © by John Glenn Paton