Language: French (Français)
Le soir ramène le silence.
Assis sur ces rochers déserts,
Je suis dans le vague des airs
Le char de la nuit qui s'avance.
Vénus se lève à l'horizon ;
À mes pieds l'étoile amoureuse.
De sa lueur mystérieuse
Blanchit les tapis de gazon.
...
Tout à coup détaché des cieux,
Un rayon de l'astre nocturne,
Glissant sur mon front taciturne,
Vient mollement toucher mes yeux.
Doux reflet d'un globe de flamme,
Charmant rayon, que me veux-tu ?
Viens-tu dans mon sein abattu
Porter la lumière à mon âme ?
Descends-tu pour me révéler
Des mondes le divin mystère?
Ces secrets cachés dans la sphère
Où le jour va te rappeler ?
...
Viens-tu dévoiler l'avenir
Au cœur fatigué qui t'implore ?
Rayon divin, es-tu l'aurore
Du jour qui ne doit pas finir ?
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,4-6,8 of the original text.
Composition:
Set to music by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "Le soir", CG 441 (1840-2), published 1861, stanzas 1-2,4-6,8 [ voice, piano, horn obbligato ]
Text Authorship:
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Jim Reilly) , "Evening", copyright © 2016-2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 52
Word count: 274
Language: English after the French (Français)
The evening brings back silence.
Seated on these deserted rocks
I track in the hazy air
The advancing chariot of night.
Venus rises on the horizon;
At my feet the amorous star
With its mysterious radiance
Turns the lawn’s carpet white.
...
Suddenly leaving the heavens,
A ray from the nocturnal star
Glides upon my solemn brow
And arrives to gently touch my eyes.
Gentle reflection of that globe of flame,
Charming ray, what do you want of me?
Do you come to my battered breast
To bring light to my soul?
Do you descend to reveal to me
The divine mystery of worlds?
These secrets hidden in the sphere
Where day goes to call you forth?
...
Do you come to unveil the future
To the tired heart which pleads with you?
Divine ray, are you the dawn
of the day which will not end?
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,4-6,8 of the original text.
Note: updated March 18, 2024.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2016-2024 by Jim Reilly, (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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Based on:
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This text was added to the website: 2016-10-26
Line count: 52
Word count: 306
