Ballade à la lune
See originalLanguage: French (Français)
Voyez, 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 ?
...
Qui t'avait éborgnée,
L'autre nuit ? T'étais-tu
Cognée
A quelque arbre pointu ?
...
Lune, en notre mémoire,
De tes belles amours
L'histoire
T'embellira toujours.
...
T'aimera le vieux pâtre,
Seul, tandis qu'à ton front
D'albâtre
Ses dogues aboieront.
T'aimera le pilote
Dans son grand bâtiment,
Qui flotte,
Sous le clair firmament !
Et la fillette preste
Qui passe le buisson,
Pied leste,
En chantant sa chanson.
...
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 1,2,8,18,20-22,24-25 of the original text.
Composition:
Set to music by Jacques Offenbach (1819 - 1880), "Ballade à la lune", 1872, stanzas 1,2,8,18,20-22,24-25 [ voice and orchestra ], from operetta Fantasio, Act I
Text Authorship:
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
Language: English after the French (Français)
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?
...
And ever restored to youth,
You shall by the passer-by
be blessed,
Full moon or crescent.
...
...
...
...
...
...
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,2,8,18,20-22,24-25 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2005-08-06
Line count: 44
Word count: 182
