Regardez, un bébé tendre et frêle dans une nuit glaciale d'hiver

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by Robert Southwell (1561? - 1595)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

In freezing winter night

Language: English

Our translations: FRE GER

Behold, a silly tender babe in freezing winter night,
In homely manger trembling lies; alas, a piteous sight!

The inns are full, no man will yield this little pilgrim bed.
But forced he is with silly beasts, in crib to shroud his head.

This stable is a Prince's court, this crib his chair of State;
The beasts are parcel of his pomp, this wooden dish his plate.

The persons in that poor attire his royal liveries wear;
The Prince himself is come from Heav'n; this pomp is prizèd there.

With joy approach o Christian wight, do homage to thy King;
And highly praise his humble pomp, which he from Heav'n doth bring.

Text Authorship:

by Robert Southwell (1561? - 1595) [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 Ronald A. Beckett , "In freezing winter night ", 1989, published 2008 [voice and piano], in Songs and Arias, Volume 1 [
text not verified
]
by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "In freezing winter night", op. 28 no. 8 (1942) [treble chorus, solo voices, and harp], from A Ceremony of Carols, no. 8. [
text verified 1 time
]
by Mick Swithinbank (b. 1953), "In freezing winter night" [SSATB chorus a cappella] [
text verified 1 time
]

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

GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , title 1: "In frost’ger Winternacht", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , title unknown, copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Tom White

This text was added to the website: 2007-10-01
Line count: 10
Word count: 112

Regardez, un bébé tendre et frêle dans...

Language: French (Français) after the English

Regardez, un bébé tendre et frêle dans une nuit glaciale d'hiver,
Dans une mangeoire ordinaire est étendu tremblant : hélas, quel triste spectacle !

Les auberges sont pleines, personne ne veut abandonner son lit à ce petit pèlerin.
Ainsi il est forcé de rester avec les humbles bêtes, dans une mangeoire d'ensevelir sa tête.

Cette étable est une cour de prince, cette crèche son trône ;
Les bêtes font partie de sa pompe, ce plat en bois est sa vaisselle.

Les personnes dans ces pauvres habits portent sa livrée royale ;
Le prince lui-même est venu du ciel ; cette pompe est appréciée ici.

Avec joie, approche, ô être chrétien , rends hommage à ton Roi ;
Et loue hautement son humble pompe qu'il apporte du ciel.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "In freezing winter night" = "Dans une nuit glaciale d'hiver"

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2015 by Guy Laffaille, (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 Robert Southwell (1561? - 1595)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-08-16
Line count: 10
Word count: 121