by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786 - 1859)
Translation © by Ahmed E. Ismail

Berceuse sur un vieil air
 (Sung text for setting by G. Bizet)
 See original
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG ENG
  Si l'enfant sommeille,
  Il verra l'abeille,
Quand elle aura fait son miel,
Danser entre terre et ciel.

  Si l'enfant repose,
  Un ange tout rose,
Que la nuit seule on peut voir,
Viendra lui dire : "Bonsoir !"

 ... 

  Si mon enfant m'aime,
  Dieu dira lui-même :
"J'aime cet enfant qui dort ;
Qu'on lui porte un rêve d'or !

 ... 

  "Mettez-lui des ailes
  Comme aux tourterelles,
Pour venir dans mon soleil
Danser jusqu'à son réveil !

  "Fermez ses paupières,
  Et sur ses prières,
De mes jardins pleins de fleurs,
Faites glisser les couleurs.

 ... 

  "Mais je veux qu'il dorme
  Et qu'il se conforme
Au silence des oiseaux
Couchés parmi les roseaux !

  "Car si l'enfant pleure,
  On entendra l'heure
Tinter partout qu'un enfant
A fait ce que Dieu défend !

  "L'écho de la rue
  Au bruit accourue,
Quand l'heure aura soupiré,
Dira : "L'enfant a pleuré !"

  "Et sa tendre mère,
  Dans sa nuit amère,
Pour son ingrat nourrisson
Ne saura plus de chanson !

  Si l'enfant est sage,
  Sur son doux visage
La Vierge se penchera,
Et longtemps lui parlera.

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,4,7,5,12-15,3 of the original text.

Note: the poem was first published in Le musée des familles, August 1835.

Notes
Stanza 7, line 2: in the Doré score there is a typo: it has "aux tourterelle" instead of "aux tourterelles".
Stanza 12, line 4: in the Doré score there is a typo: it has "leurs maison" instead of "leurs maisons"

Composition:

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

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

  • ENG English (Ahmed E. Ismail) , "Cradle song after an old air", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English [singable] (Michael P Rosewall) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 76
Word count: 328

Language: English  after the French (Français) 
1 If the child naps,
He will see the bee,
Having made her honey,
Dance between heaven and earth.

2 If the child lies down,
An angel, all in red,
Whom one can see only at night,
Will come to tell him: "Good evening!"

 ... 

7 Give him wings,
Like the turtledoves'
That he may come with my sun
To dance, to dance until he wakes.

 ... 

13 For if the child cries,
One will hear the clocks
Chime everywhere that a child
Has done what God has forbidden.

5 Close his eyelids
And over his prayers
From my gardens full of flowers
Let glide the colors.

 ... 

 ... 

 ... 

 ... 

4 If my child loves me,
God will say so himself:
I love this sleeping child:
Let him be given a golden dream.

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,4,7,5,12-15,3 of the original text.

Note: this is a translation of Bizet's version.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2007 by Ahmed E. Ismail, (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.
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This text was added to the website: 2007-09-19
Line count: 40
Word count: 216