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by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)
Translation © by Peter Low

Si tu veux
 (Sung text for setting by O. Respighi)
 See original
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG
 ... 

    « Si tu veux, faisons un rêve :
    Montons sur deux palefrois ;
    Tu m’emmènes, je t’enlève.
    L’oiseau chante dans les bois.

    » Je suis ton maître et ta proie ;
    Partons, c’est la fin du jour ;
    Mon cheval sera la joie,
    Ton cheval sera l’amour.

    » Nous ferons toucher leurs têtes ;
    Les voyages sont aisés ;
    Nous donnerons à ces bêtes
    Une avoine de baisers.

    » Viens ! nos doux chevaux mensonges
    Frappent du pied tous les deux,
    Le mien au fond de mes songes,
    Et le tien au fond des cieux.

    » Un bagage est nécessaire ;
    Nous emporterons nos vœux,
    Nos bonheurs, notre misère,
    Et la fleur de tes cheveux.

    » Viens, le soir brunit les chênes ;
    Le moineau rit ; ce moqueur
    Entend le doux bruit des chaînes
    Que tu m’as mises au cœur.

    » Ce ne sera point ma faute
    Si les forêts et les monts,
    En nous voyant côte à côte,
    Ne murmurent pas : « Aimons ! »

    » Viens, sois tendre, je suis ivre.
    Ô les verts taillis mouillés !
    Ton souffle te fera suivre
    Des papillons réveillés.

    » L’envieux oiseau nocturne,
    Triste, ouvrira son œil rond ;
    Les nymphes, penchant leur urne,
    Dans les grottes souriront ;

    » Et diront : « Sommes-nous folles !
    » C’est Léandre avec Héro ;
    » En écoutant leurs paroles
    » Nous laissons tomber notre eau. »

    » Allons-nous-en par l’Autriche !
    Nous aurons l’aube à nos fronts ;
    Je serai grand, et toi riche,
    Puisque nous nous aimerons.

    » Allons-nous-en par la terre,
    Sur nos deux chevaux charmants,
    Dans l’azur, dans le mystère,
    Dans les éblouissements !

    » Nous entrerons à l’auberge,
    Et nous paîrons l’hôtelier
    De ton sourire de vierge,
    De mon bonjour d’écolier.

    » Tu seras dame, et moi comte ;
    Viens, mon cœur s’épanouit ;
    Viens, nous conterons ce conte
    Aux étoiles de la nuit. »

 ... 

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 3-16 of the original text.

Composition:

    Set to music by Ottorino Respighi (1879 - 1936), "Si tu veux", P. 89 no. 5, published 1909, stanzas 3-16 [ high voice and piano ], from Sei melodie, no. 5, Ricordi

Text Authorship:

  • by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Un peu de musique", appears in La Légende des siècles, in Première série (1859), in 5. Les Chevaliers errants, in 2. Éviradnus, no. 11

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


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 71
Word count: 415

Listen, like a nest that murmurs out of...
 (Sung text translation for setting by O. Respighi)
 See original
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
 ... 

If you wish, let's dream a dream:
let's be mounted on two palfreys.
You carry me, I carry you.
The bird sings in the woods.

I am your master and also your prey.
Let's go, the day is ending.
My horse will be joy,
your horse will be love.

We will make their heads touch.
Travelling is not difficult.
We will feed these animals
on oats made of kisses.

Come! our two imagined horses
are stamping their hoofs,
mine in the depths of my dreams,
and yours in the depths of the skies.

A few things we'll need to carry:
we'll take our vows,
our happiness, our poverty,
and the open flower of your hair.

Come, evening is darkening the oaks.
The sparrow laughs: he mocks us,
hearing the soft clinking of the chains
that you have placed on my heart.

And it won't be my fault
if the forest and mountains,
seeing us side by side
fail to murmur: "Let us love!"

Come, be tender, I am drunk.
Oh the damp green thickets!
Your breath will cause you to be followed
by wide-awake butterflies.

The envious nocturnal bird
will sadly open its large round eye.
The nymphs, leaning over their urns,
will smile in their grottos,

and will say "Are we crazy?
Those two are  Hero and Leander.
As we listen to their words
we spill water from our jugs."

Let's travel through Austria!
We'll have the dawn in our faces.
I will be great, you will be rich,
because we will love one another.

Let's ride off overland
on our two charming horses,
into the blue sky, the mystery,
the bedazzlement !

We will enter an inn,
and will pay the host
with the coin of your virginal smile,
and my schoolboy hello.

You will be a lady, I a royal count,
Come, my heart expands.
Come, we will tell this tale
to the stars of the night.

 ... 

About the headline (FAQ)

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 3-16 of the original text.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 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 Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Un peu de musique", appears in La Légende des siècles, in Première série (1859), in 5. Les Chevaliers errants, in 2. Éviradnus, no. 11
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2022-08-03
Line count: 71
Word count: 444

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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