Invitation to the voyage | My child, my sister

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by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867)

Translation © by Peter Low

L'invitation au Voyage

(Sung text for setting by H. Duparc)

See original

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: DUT ENG GER ITA SPA

	Mon enfant, ma sœur,
	Songe à la douceur
D'aller là-bas vivre ensemble ;
	-- Aimer à loisir,
	Aimer et mourir
Au pays qui te ressemble !
	Les soleils mouillés
	De ces ciels brouillés
Pour mon esprit ont les charmes
	Si mystérieux
	De tes traîtres yeux
Brillant à travers leurs larmes. 

Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté.

 ... 

	Vois sur ces canaux 
	Dormir ces vaisseaux
Dont l'humeur est vagabonde ;
	C'est pour assouvir
	Ton moindre désir
Qu'ils viennent du bout du monde.
	-- Les soleils couchants
	Revêtent les champs,
Les canaux, la ville entière,
	D'hyacinthe et d'or ;
	-- Le monde s'endort
Dans une chaude lumière.

Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté.

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

First published in Revue des Deux Mondes, seconde série de la nouvelle période, tome dixième, 1855. Also appears in Les Fleurs du mal as number 49 in the 1857 edition and 53 or 54 in subsequent editions.

Composition:

Henri Duparc

IMSLP

Text Authorship:

by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "L'Invitation au Voyage", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 53, Paris, Bureau de la Revue des Deux Mondes, first published 1855

See other settings of this text.

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

CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Vyzvání na cestu"
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Marike Lindhout) , "De Uitnodiging voor de Reis", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Peter Low) , "Invitation to the voyage", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Cyril Meir Scott) , "Invitation to a Journey", appears in The Flowers of Evil, London, Elkin Mathews, first published 1909
GER German (Deutsch) (Nele Gramß) , "Einladung zur Reise", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Invito al viaggio", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Juan Henríquez Concepción) , title 1: "La invitación al viaje", title 2: "La invitación al viaje", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Nicolas Gounin [Guest Editor] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 42
Word count: 164

Invitation to the voyage

(Sung text translation for setting by H. Duparc)

See original

Language: English after the French (Français)

My child, my sister,
think of the sweetness
of going there to live together!
To love at leisure,
to love and to die
in a country that is the image of you!
The misty suns
of those changeable skies
have for me the same
mysterious charm
as your fickle eyes
shining through their tears.

  There, all is harmony and beauty,
  luxury, calm and delight.

 ... 

See how those ships,
nomads by nature,
are slumbering in the canals.
To gratify
your every desire
they have come from the ends of the earth.
The westering suns
clothe the fields,
the canals, and the town
with reddish-orange and gold.
The world falls asleep
bathed in warmth and light.

  There, all is harmony and beauty,
  luxury, calm and delight.

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

Translator's note: Despite the opening line, this poem is an amorous invitation addressed to a mistress (not literally a child or sister)

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Peter Low, (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 Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "L'Invitation au Voyage", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 53, Paris, Bureau de la Revue des Deux Mondes, first published 1855
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 42
Word count: 179