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C'était, dans la nuit brune,
Sur le clocher jauni,
La lune
Comme un point sur un i.
Lune, quel esprit sombre
Promène au bout d'un fil,
Dans l'ombre,
Ta face et ton profil ?
Es-tu l'œil du ciel borgne ?
Quel chérubin cafard
Nous lorgne
Sous ton masque blafard ?
N'es-tu rien qu'une boule,
Qu'un grand faucheux bien gras
Qui roule
Sans pattes et sans bras ?
...
Rends-nous la chasseresse,
Diane, au sein virginal,
Qui presse
Quelque cerf matinal !
...
Phoebé qui, la nuit close,
Aux lèvres d'un berger
Se pose,
Comme un oiseau léger.
Lune, en notre mémoire,
De tes belles amours
L'histoire
T'embellira toujours.
Et toujours rajeunie,
Tu seras du passant
Bénie, tu seras bénie,
Pleine lune ou croissant.
...
T'aimera le pilote
Dans son grand bâtiment,
Qui flotte,
Sous le clair firmament !
...
Et qu'il vente ou qu'il neige
Moi-même, chaque soir,
Que fais-je,
Venant ici m'asseoir ?
Je viens voir à la brune,
Sur le clocher jauni,
La lune
Comme un point sur un i.
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4,12,17-19,21,24-25 of the original text.
Composition:
- Set to music by Edouard Lalo (1823 - 1892), "Ballade à la lune", subtitle: "Chanson humoristique", 1860?, stanzas 1-4,12,17-19,21,24-25
Text Authorship:
- by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), "Ballade à la lune", appears in Premières poésies
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Barbara Miller) , "Ballad to the moon", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Ballada na měsíc"
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Árpád Tóth) , "A hold balladája"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 100
Word count: 364
It was, in the dark night, On the yellowed steeple, The moon, Like a dot on an i. Moon, what dark spirit Walks at the end of a leash Through the gloom, Your face and your profile? Are you the one-eyed heavens' single eye? Which bigoted cherub Peers at us Beneath your pale mask? Are you merely a ball? A big fat daddy-long-legs That rolls, that rolls Without legs and arms? ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4,12,17-19,21,24-25 of the original text.
Note: this is a translation of the Lalo setting.Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2005 by Barbara Miller, (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:
- a text in French (Français) by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), "Ballade à la lune", appears in Premières poésies
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This text was added to the website: 2005-08-06
Line count: 44
Word count: 182