Wenn am Abend du singst

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by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Sérénade

(Sung text for setting by C. Gounod)

See original

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 soudain le farouche 
 Soupçon 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 !

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-3 of the original text.

Composition:

Charles Gounod

German (Deutsch)

Text Authorship:

by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, appears in Marie Tudor, Paris: J. Hetzel; Journée 1, Scene 5, first published 1833

See other settings of this text.

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

ENG English (Peter Low) , no title, copyright © 2000-2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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: 165

Serenade

(Sung text translation for setting by C. Gounod)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch) after the French (Français)

Wenn am Abend du singst,
in den Armen mir liegst,
nimmst du wahr, was im Geist
ich ganz leise dir sag?
Dein süß’ Lied ruft zurück
mir die glücklichste Zeit.
Singe, mein Lieb,
singe allzeit!

Wenn du lachst, dann erblüht
auf dem Mund dir die Lieb,
und auf einmal ist je-
glicher Argwohn zerstreut.
Ach, dein Lachen so treu
zeigt ein Herz ohne Arg.
Lache, mein Lieb,
lache allzeit!

Wenn du schläfst, still und rein,
ich im Dämmer dich seh,
hauchst im Traume du leis
etwas Liebes mir zu.
Deine schöne Gestalt
mir sich unverhüllt zeigt … -
Schlafe, mein Lieb,
schlafe allzeit!

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-3 of the original text.

Note: this is a translation of Gounod's version.

Text Authorship:

Singable translation from French (Français) to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2017 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
If you wish to commission a new translation, please 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
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This text was added to the website: 2017-06-07
Line count: 40
Word count: 102