Voix | Des clairons sonnèrent, affligeant l'air du soir

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by Wilfred Owen (1893 - 1918)

Translation © by Pierre Mathé

Voices

Language: English

Our translations: FRE SPA

Bugles sang, saddening the evening air;
And bugles answered, sorrowful to hear.
Voices of boys were by the river-side.
Sleep mothered them; and left the twilight sad.
The shadow of the morrow weighed on men.
Voices of old despondency resigned,
Bowed by the shadow of the morrow, slept.

Text Authorship:

by Wilfred Owen (1893 - 1918), "Voices", from Poems, first published 1931 [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):

[ None yet in the database ]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Dies irae", op. 66 no. 2, published 1961 [ soprano, tenor, baritone, satb chorus, boys' chorus, orchestra, chamber orchestra, organ ], from War Requiem, no. 2
- View the full text. [sung text not yet checked]

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

FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Voix", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Dr. Anthony Krupp) (Clo Blanco) , "Voces", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-08
Line count: 7
Word count: 48

Voix

Language: French (Français) after the English

Des clairons sonnèrent, affligeant l'air du soir ;
Et des clairons répondirent, tristes à entendre.
Il y avait des voix de garçons au bord de la rivière.
Le sommeil leur servit de mère, et laissa un triste crépuscule.
L'ombre du lendemain pesait sur les hommes.
Des voix d'un abattement résigné depuis longtemps,
Baissées par les ombres du lendemain, dormaient.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2015 by Pierre Mathé, (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 English by Wilfred Owen (1893 - 1918), "Voices", from Poems, first published 1931
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-03-21
Line count: 7
Word count: 58