Quand tu dors | Quand tu chantes, bercée

by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)

Quand tu chantes, bercée

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG GER ITA

   Quand tu chantes, bercée
   Le soir entre mes bras,
   Entends-tu ma pensée
   Qui te répond tout bas ?
   Ton doux chant me rappelle
   Les plus beaux de mes jours...
      Chantez, ma belle !
      Chantez toujours !

   Quand tu ris, sur ta bouche
   L'amour s'épanouit,
   Et le soupçon farouche
   Soudain s'évanouit !
   Ah ! le rire fidèle
   Prouve un cœur sans détours ! ... --
     Riez, ma belle !
     Riez toujours!

  Quand tu dors, calme et pure,
   Dans l'ombre, sous mes yeux,
   Ton haleine murmure
   Des mots harmonieux.
   Ton beau corps se révèle
   Sans voile et sans atours... --
     Dormez, ma belle,
     Dormez toujours !

   Quand tu me dis: Je t'aime !
   Ô ma beauté ! je croi !
   Je crois que le ciel même
   S'ouvre au-dessus de moi !
   Ton regard étincelle
   Du beau feu des amours... --
     Aimez, ma belle,
     Aimez toujours !

   Vois-tu ? toute la vie
   Tient dans ces quatre mots,
   Tous les biens qu'on envie,
   Tous les biens sans les maux !
   Tout ce qui peut séduire
   Tout ce qui peut charmer... --
     Chanter et rire,
     Dormir, aimer !

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• C. Gounod • H. Kjerulf • F. Liszt

C. Gounod sets stanzas 1-3
F. Liszt sets stanzas 1, 4
H. Kjerulf sets stanza 3 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
J. Weckerlin sets stanzas 4-5

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Victor Hugo, Marie Tudor. La Esmerelda, Paris: J. Hetzel, 1833, Journée I, Scène v, pages 27-28; and with Œuvres de Victor Hugo, Volume 1, Bruxelles, J. P. Meline, 1836, pages 735-736. Before the first stanza, the stage directions say "On entend une guitare et une voix éloignée qui chante:", and after the first stanza the character L'homme says "C'est mon homme." (this is not part of any song setting). After that, the voice (La Voix) continues with the stage direction "Elle s'approche à chaque couplet." and the rest of the song follows.

Text Authorship:

by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, appears in Marie Tudor, Paris: J. Hetzel; Journée 1, Scene 5, first published 1833 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "Sérénade", CG 437 (1855-7), published 1857, stanzas 1-3 [ voice, piano, and harmonium or violoncello ad libitum ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Gustave Héquet (1803 - 1865), "Ballade de Marie Tudor" [ high voice, oboe, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Halfdan Kjerulf (1815 - 1868), "Quand tu dors", 1848-68, published [1868], stanza 3 [ tenor and TTBB chorus a cappella ], from Album for Mandssang, no. 7, Kristiana (Oslo): Carl Warmuth [sung text checked 1 time]
by Halfdan Kjerulf (1815 - 1868), "Quand tu dors", op. 9 (Six romances françaises) no. 1 (1861) [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Leopold Lenz (1803 - 1862), "Quand tu chantes, bercée le soir entre mes bras", subtitle: "Serenade aus: 'Marie Tudor'", op. 22 (Drei Gesänge) no. 1, published 183-? [ voice, piano, and horn or violoncello ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Quand tu chantes, bercée", S. 306a (1842), stanzas 1,4 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Jean-Baptiste Théodore Weckerlin (1821 - 1910), "Sérénade dans Marie Tudor", stanzas 4-5 [ medium voice and piano ], from 25 Mélodies de J.B. Weckerlin, no. 18, Éd. Durand & Schoenewerck [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Charles Gounod.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Vladimir Dmitrievich Kashkin.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Georgiy Vasil'yevich Sviridov.
- Go to the text.
Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Isidor Dannström.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

POL Polish (Polski) (Felicjan Faleński) , "Śpiew przy gitarze", subtitle: "Z Wiktora Hugo"

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 40
Word count: 164