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Viens, cherchons une ombre propice,
Jusqu'à l'heure où de ce séjour
Les fleurs fermeront leur calice
Aux regards languissants du jour.
Voilà ton ciel, ô mon étoile !
Soulève, oh ! soulève ce voile :
Éclaire la nuit de ces lieux ;
Parle, chante, rêve, soupire,
Pourvu que mon regard attire
Un regard errant de tes yeux.
Laisse-moi parsemer de roses
La tendre mousse où tu t'assieds,
Et près du lit où tu reposes
Laisse-moi m'asseoir à tes pieds.
Heureux le gazon que tu foules,
Et le bouton dont tu déroules
Sous tes doigts les fraîches couleurs !
Heureuses ces coupes vermeilles
Que pressent tes lèvres, pareilles
À l'abeille, amante des fleurs !
...
Souviens-toi de l'heure bénie
Où les dieux, d'une tendre main,
Te répandirent sur ma vie
Comme l'ombre sur la chemin.
Depuis cette heure fortunée,
Ma vie à ta vie enchaînée,
Qui s'écoule comme un seul jour,
Est une coupe toujours pleine,
Où mes lèvres à longue haleine
Puisent l'innocence et l'amour.
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,4 of the original text.
Note: an incomplete fifth stanza of this poem appears in Méditations poétiques par M. Alphonse de Lamartine, troisième édition, Paris, Au Dépot de la Librairie Grecque-Latine-Allemande, 1820, pages 164-166, but it was left out in the 1860 edition of the complete works.
See also Comme l'ombre sur le chemin by F. Aubin
Composition:
- Set to music by Georges Bizet (1838 - 1875), "Chant d'amour", op. 21 no. 17 (1872), published 1873, stanzas 1-2,4 [ medium voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 17, Paris, Éd. Choudens
Score: IMSLP [external link]
Text Authorship:
- by Alphonse Marie Louis de Lamartine (1790 - 1869), no title, appears in Nouvelles méditations poétiques, in 3. Chant d'Amour, no. 9
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English [singable] (Samuel Byrne) , "Come and seek a nice shady nook"
- ENG English (Michael Berridge) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 48
Word count: 244
Come, let us seek out suitable shade,
Until the hour when from this sojourn
The flowers shall close their petals
To the lingering gaze of the day.
Behold your sky, O my star!
Lift, oh! lift this veil,
Illumine the night of these places;
Talk, sing, dream, sigh,
Provided that my gaze attracts
A passing glance from your eyes.
Let me strew with roses
The tender moss where you are sitting,
And by the bed where you are resting
Let me sit at your feet.
Happy the grass that you press down,
And the bud from which you unfurl
Beneath your fingers its fresh colours;
Happy these gilded bowls
That your lips press, like the touch
Of a bee, lover of flowers.
...
Remember the blessed hour
When the gods, with a tender hand,
Spread you out upon my life
Like the shadow on the highway.
Since this fortunate hour,
My life enchained with your life,
Which trickles away like a single day,
Is a bowl always full,
Where my lips with long-drawn breath
Shall drink a draught of innocence and love.
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,4 of the original text.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Michael Berridge, (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 Alphonse Marie Louis de Lamartine (1790 - 1869), no title, appears in Nouvelles méditations poétiques, in 3. Chant d'Amour, no. 9
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This text was added to the website: 2026-03-21
Line count: 48
Word count: 181