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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Translation © by Laura Prichard

Noël ancien
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG GER
Noël nouvelet,
Noël chantons ici,
Dévotes gens,
Crions à Dieu merci,
Chantons Noël pour le Roi nouvelet.

Quand m'eveillai,
Ayant assez dormi,
J'ouvris les yeux,
Vis un arbre fleuri,
Dont il sortait un bouton vermeillet.

Quand je le vis,
Mon coeur fut réjoui
Car grand' beauté
Resplendissait en lui,
Comme soleil levant au matinet.

D'un angelet
Après les chants ouïs
Qu'aux pasteurs disait:
"Partez d'ici, en Bethléem trouverez l'agnelet.",

En Bethléem
Marie et Joseph
Vis, l'âne et le boeuf
Près de l'Enfant au lit:
La crèche était au lieu d'un bercelet.

L'étoile y vis
Qui dans la nuit éclaircit,
Qui d'Orient
D'où son éclat jaillit
En Bethléem les trois Rois amenait.

L'un portait l'or
Et l'autre offrait la myrrhe,
Et l'autre encens qu'il faisait bon sentir:
Du Paradis semblait le jardinet!

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [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 Ottorino Respighi (1879 - 1936), "Noël ancien", P. 97 no. 4 (1912), published 1912 [medium voice and piano], from Sei Liriche, seconda serie, no. 4, Éd. Ricordi [
     text verified 1 time
    ]
  • by Ottorino Respighi (1879 - 1936), "Noël ancien", op. 66, P. 90 no. 4 (1909), published 1912 [voice and piano], from Sei liriche, prima serie, no. 4, Milan, Ricordi [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

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

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , title 1: "Altes Weihnachtslied", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Laura Prichard) , title 1: "Ancient Noël (Christmas Song)", copyright © 2015, (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: 33
Word count: 131

Ancient Noël (Christmas Song)
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
Christmas comes anew,
Let us sing here, “Noël."
Devout people,
Let us shout thanks to God!
Sing Christmas [greetings] to the new King.

When I awoke,
Having had enough sleep,
I opened my eyes,
Saw a tree flowering,
He pulled off a rosy bud.

When I saw him,
My heart rejoiced
Such great beauty
Shone in him,
Like the sun rising in the morning.

An angel
After hearing the songs
Said to the shepherds:
“Leave here, in Bethlehem you’ll find the little lamb.”

In Bethlehem
Mary and Joseph
Watched over by ass and ox,
Close to the child in bed:
The crèche served in place of a cradle.

The star they saw
Which lit the night,
From the East
Hence its brilliance showed [the way]
To Bethlehem [for] the three Kings.

One brought gold,
And the other offered myrrh,
And the other incense; he felt good:
It seemed like paradise, like Eden!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2015 by Laura Prichard, (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 Anonymous/Unidentified Artist
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2015-12-26
Line count: 33
Word count: 152

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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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