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Quand les anges se sont perdus Qui s'en venaient sur la mer Les oiseaux les ont attendus En criant éperdus Dans le vent amer. Quand les vaisseaux se sont perdus Qui s'en venaient sur la mer, Les oiseaux les ont attendus, Puis, s'en sont allés dans le vent amer. S'en sont allés jusqu'aux chaumières Qui dorment au bord de la mer; Et ils ont dit qu'étaient perdus Les anges attendus. S'en sont allés aux clochers des églises Qui chantent selon la brise, Et ils ont dit qu'étaient perdus Les vaiseaux attendus. Et la nuit les enfants étranges Ont vu les ailes des anges Comme des vaisseaux flotter au ciel, Ont vu des voiles comme des ailes Planer vers les étoiles. Et mêlant les ailes, les voiles, Et les navires et les anges, Ils ont prié, les enfants frêles, Dans une ignorance blanche.
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Authorship:
- by Séverin Faust (1872 - 1945), as Camille Mauclair, "Ballade", appears in Le Sang parle, in 3. Lieds, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Maison du Livre, first published 1904 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855 - 1899), "Ballade", op. 27 no. 2 (1896) [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois Lieder de Camille Mauclair, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Anne Mantaux (b. 1966), "Quand les anges se sont perdus", 2019 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Ballad", copyright © 2000, (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: 26
Word count: 142
When the angels that were coming over the sea became lost, the birds waited for them crying out desperately in the bitter wind. When the sailing-ships that were coming over the sea became lost, the birds waited for them, then flew off in the bitter wind. They flew to the thatched cottages that sleep beside the coast; and they said that the expected angels were lost. They flew to the church-towers that sing in the breeze; and they said that the expected ships were lost. And that night the strange children saw the angels' wings floating in the sky like ships; they saw sails like wings soaring towards the stars. And muddling together the wings, the sails, the ships and the angels, these delicate children prayed in white ignorance.
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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Séverin Faust (1872 - 1945), as Camille Mauclair, "Ballade", appears in Le Sang parle, in 3. Lieds, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Maison du Livre, first published 1904
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 26
Word count: 130