The Swans | Your soul is a lake of love

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by Armand Renaud (1836 - 1895)

Translation © by Laura Stanfield Prichard

Les Cygnes

(Sung text for setting by C. Saint-Saëns)

See original

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Ton cœur est un lac d'amour
Dont mes désirs sont les cygnes.
Vois comme ils en font le tour,
Comme ils y creusent des lignes !

Voyageurs aventureux
Ils vont, les ailes ouvertes.
Rien n'est ignoré par eux,
Des flots bleus aux îles vertes.

 ... 

Sans nombre sont ces oiseaux
Que ton âme voit éclore.
Combien déjà sur les eaux,
Et combien à naître encore !

Point de halte ! à tout moment, 
D'arrivants le bord se charge. 
Ceux d'hier pensivement 
S'en vont alors vers le large.

 ... 

Et sur ce miroir béni, 
Sur ce cristal d'eau sans brumes, 
On entend à l'infini 
Frissonner au vent des plumes.

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,5-6,8 of the original text.

Composition:

Charles Camille Saint-Saëns

Nuit persane

Text Authorship:

by Armand Renaud (1836 - 1895), "Les Cygnes", written 1870, appears in Les nuits persanes, in 6. La vallée de l'union, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1870

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Laura Stanfield Prichard) , "The Swans", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 170

The Swans

(Sung text translation for setting by C. Saint-Saëns)

See original

Language: English after the French (Français)

Your heart is a lake of love
In which my desires are swans.
See how they make the rounds,
As they create wakes behind them!

Adventurous explorers
They advance, their wings outspread.
Nothing is ignored by them,
From blue waves to green islands.

 ... 

Innumerable are these birds
Which your soul may see hatching.
How many already on the waters,
And how many are yet to be born!

Don’t hesitate! At any moment, 
New arrivals will charge the shore
While yesterday’s crop pensively 
Head out to sea.

 ... 

And in a blessed harmony, 
Over this crystal sheen of limpid water, 
One hears forever
The rustling of feathers in the wind.

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,5-6,8 of the original text.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2024 by Laura Stanfield Prichard, (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 Armand Renaud (1836 - 1895), "Les Cygnes", written 1870, appears in Les nuits persanes, in 6. La vallée de l'union, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1870
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This text was added to the website: 2024-04-24
Line count: 32
Word count: 178