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Si tu savais que je t'adore,
Comme l'étoile aime le ciel,
Comme l'abeille du Mysore
Aime la fleur où naît le miel,
Tu viendrais, à l'heure où le Gange
Au golfe bleu va s'endormir,
Tu viendrais, t'asseoir, ô mon ange,
Sur le balcon de ton émir !
Là, ma douce reine,
Sous la nuit sereine,
Après un beau jour,
Les fleurs ranimées,
Les rives aimées,
Les nuits embaumées,
Tout parle d'amour.
...
Si tu voyais quelle merveille
Change d'un signe de ma main
La jeune fille de la veille
En sultane du lendemain,
Tu croirais demain, ô mon ange,
Que le dieu bleu du firmament
Est revenu sur notre Gange
Avec le nom de ton amant !
Là, ma douce reine, etc.
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,3 of the original text.
Composition:
- Set to music by Charles Marie Jean Albert Widor (1844 - 1937), "Chanson indienne", stanzas 1,3 [ high voice and piano ], from Quarante mélodies, no. 31, Éd. J. Hamelle
Text Authorship:
- by François Joseph Pierre André Méry (1798 - 1865), "L'Émir de Bengador", appears in Mélodies poétiques, Paris, Éd. Victor Lecou, first published 1853
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Amy Pfrimmer) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Amy Pfrimmer
This text was added to the website: 2017-06-30
Line count: 42
Word count: 224
If you knew that I adore you,
as the star loves the sky,
Like the bee of Mysore
loves the flower where honey is born,
You would come, when the Ganges
in the blue gulf goes to sleep,
You would come and sit, oh my angel,
on the balcony of your emir!
There, my sweet queen,
under the serene night,
after a beautiful day,
fresh flowers,
Beloved shores,
fragrant nights,
everything speaks of love.
...
If you saw what a marvelous change
I could make with only a wave of my hand
Changing the young girl of yesterday
into a sultana of tomorrow,
You would believe tomorrow, oh my angel,
that the blue god of the firmament
Is returning to our Ganges
with the name of your lover!
There, my sweet queen, etc.
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,3 of the original text.
Note: this is a translation of Widor's version.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Amy Pfrimmer, (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.
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by François Joseph Pierre André Méry (1798 - 1865), "L'Émir de Bengador", appears in Mélodies poétiques, Paris, Éd. Victor Lecou, first published 1853
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This text was added to the website: 2023-06-05
Line count: 42
Word count: 132