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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 !
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 footnotesConfirmed 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]
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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: 165
When you sing in the evening cradled in my arms, can you hear my thoughts softly answering you? Your sweet song recalls to me the happiest days I've known. Sing, sing, my pretty one, sing on forever! When you laugh, love blossoms on your lips, and at once cruel suspicion vanishes. Ah, faithful laughter shows a heart without guile. Laugh, laugh, my pretty one, laugh on forever! When you sleep calm and pure beneath my gaze, in the shadow, your breathing murmurs harmonious words. Your lovely body is revealed without veil or finery. Sleep, sleep, my pretty one, sleep on forever! When you say 'I love you', oh my beauty, I believe! I think that heaven itself is opening above me! Your eyes sparkle with love's beautiful fire... Love,love, my pretty one, love on forever! Do you see? All of life is held in these four verbs, all the good things people wish for, all the good without the bad! Everything that can delight, everything that can charm... To sing, to laugh, to sleep, to love!
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesTranslation of title "Sérénade" = "Serenade"
Note: the stage directions before the first stanza translate as "A guitar is heard and a voice in the distance singing"; the character L'homme says "That is my man"; and then La Voix continues with stage directions that translate to "(The voice comes closer with every stanza)".
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000-2019 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, appears in Marie Tudor, Paris: J. Hetzel; Journée 1, Scene 5, first published 1833
Go to the general view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 40
Word count: 177