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by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)
Translation © by Peter Low
Puisqu'ici‑bas toute âme
Language: French (Français)
Puisqu'ici-bas toute âme Donne à quelqu'un Sa musique, sa flamme, Ou son parfum ; Puisqu'ici[-bas]1 [chaque]2 chose Donne toujours Son épine ou sa rose A ses amours ; [Puisqu'avril]3 donne aux chênes Un bruit charmant ; Que la nuit donne aux peines L'oubli dormant. Puisque l'air à la branche Donne l'oiseau ; Que l'aube à la pervenche Donne un peu d'eau ; Puisque, lorsqu'elle arrive S'y reposer, L'onde amère à la rive Donne un baiser ; Je te donne, à cette heure, Penché sur toi, La chose la meilleure Que j'ai en moi ! Reçois donc ma pensée, Triste d'ailleurs, Qui, comme une rosée, T'arrive en pleurs ! Reçois mes voeux sans nombre, O mes amours ! Reçois la flamme ou l'ombre De tous mes jours ! Mes transports pleins d'ivresses, Pur de soupçons, Et toutes les caresses De mes chansons ! Mon esprit qui sans voile Vogue au hazard, Et qui n'a pour étoile Que ton regard ! Ma muse, que les heures Bercent rêvant Qui, pleurant quand tu pleures, Pleure souvent ! Reçois, mon bien céleste, O ma beauté, Mon cœur, dont rien ne reste, L'amour ôté !
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• G. Fauré • R. Hahn • E. Lalo • H. Monpou • L. Niedermeyer • C. Saint-SaënsG. Fauré sets stanzas 1-3, 5-9, 11, 12
R. Hahn sets stanzas 1, 2, 4-9
E. Lalo sets stanzas 1, 8, 6, 10, 7, 9
H. Monpou sets stanzas 1, 2, 4-10, 12
L. Niedermeyer sets stanzas 1-3, 5-8, 10-12
C. Saint-Saëns sets stanzas 1, 2, 4-10, 12
H. Kjerulf sets stanzas 1-2, 6
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 omitted by Hahn.
2 Hugo: "toute"
3 Fauré: "Puis qu'Avril"
Text Authorship:
- by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, written 1836, appears in Les voix intérieures, no. 11, first published 1837 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Marcial del Adalid (1826 - 1881), "Puisqu'ici bas toute âme", published 2009 [ high voice and piano ], from Mélodies pour chant et piano - Cantares viejos y nuevos de Galicia, par Margarita Soto Viso, no. 12a, Éd. Fundacion Pedro Barrié de la Maza, Conde de Fenosa [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marcial del Adalid (1826 - 1881), "Puisqu'ici bas toute âme", published 2009 [ high voice and piano ], from Mélodies pour chant et piano - Cantares viejos y nuevos de Galicia, par Margarita Soto Viso, no. 12b, Éd. Fundacion Pedro Barrié de la Maza, Conde de Fenosa [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles-Samuel Bovy-Lysberg (1821 - 1873), "Puisqu'ici bas !", published [1891] [ low voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies posthumes, no. 2, Éd. "Au Ménestrel" Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis-Toussaint Cellot (1827 - 1879), as Henri Cellot, "Puisqu'ici bas", published [1877] [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel', Heugel et Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Caroline Creyke, née Bennet Lawes (1844 - 1946), as Mrs Walter Creyke, "Rêverie", published [1894] [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs, no. 3, London, Weekes [sung text not yet checked]
- by Amédée Dethou (1811 - 1877), "Puisqu'ici bas", published [1859] [ medium voice and piano ], from Douze mélodies sur des poësies de Victor Hugo et de Ronsard, Bertaut, Desportes et Passerat, Poëtes du XVIè siècle, no. 12, Paris, Imprimerie Bouchard [sung text not yet checked]
- by Antoine De Val , "Puisqu'ici‑bas toute âme", published 1874 [ voice and piano ], Wien, Schreiber [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Doré (1830 - 1884), "Amour", subtitle: "Romance", op. 5, published [1854] [ voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Puisqu'ici-bas toute âme", op. 10 no. 1 (1862), first performed 1875, stanzas 1-3,5-9,11,12 [ vocal trio or vocal duet with piano ], Édition Heugel 'Au Ménestrel', revised 1874 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jean-Baptiste Faure (1830 - 1914), "Puisqu'ici-bas", from Deuxième recueil de vingt mélodies, chant et piano, par J. Faure, no. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947), "Rêverie", 1888, published [1894], stanzas 1,2,4-9 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies - 1er volume, no. 1, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Halfdan Kjerulf (1815 - 1868), "À toi", HK 153, stanzas 1-2,6 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul-Jean-Jacques Lacôme d'Estalenx (1838 - 1920), "Puisqu'ici bas toute âme" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edouard Lalo (1823 - 1892), "Puisqu'ici-bas toute âme", op. 17 (6 Mélodies) no. 2, stanzas 1,8,6,10,7,9 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Hippolyte Monpou (1804 - 1841), "À genoux", published 1838, stanzas 1,2,4-10,12 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. Meissonnier [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Louis Niedermeyer (1802 - 1861), "Puisqu'ici-bas toute âme", stanzas 1-3,5-8,10-12 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Emiliano Renaud (1875 - 1932), "Aveu", 1932, published 2009 [ contralto and piano ], from Six Romances pour Madame Sigrid Onegin, contralto superbe, no. 6, Québec, Éd. du Nouveau Théâtre Musical [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Rougnon (1846 - 1934), "Puisqu'ici bas toute âme", published <<1886 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921), "Rêverie", 1851, published 1852, stanzas 1,2,4-10,12 [ medium voice and piano or orchestra ], Éd. Richault [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Heinrich Leuthold (1827 - 1879) , "Lied", appears in Fünf Bücher französischer Lyrik vom Zeitalter der Revolution bis auf unsere Tage in Übersetzungen von Emanuel Geibel und Heinrich Leuthold, Stuttgart: Cotta'scher Verlag, first published 1862 ; composed by Robert von Hornstein.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "As each soul here below", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English [singable] (Peter Low) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) [singable] (Angelo Zanardini) , "Dolce pensier"
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Alberto Bonati) , "Ya que aquí abajo toda alma", copyright © 2007, (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: 48
Word count: 179
Since here on earth each soul
Language: English after the French (Français)
Since here on earth each soul gives to another one its music, its flame, or its perfume; since here on earth each thing always gives its thorn or its rose to its beloved; since April gives to the oaks a charming rustling noise, and night gives to troubled minds the oblivion of sleep; since to the branch the air gives the bird, since to periwinkles the dawn gives drops of dew; and since the ocean wave when it comes to rest gives a kiss to the shore; I give you now, as I lean over you, the very best thing that I have inside me! So accept my thought (a sad one, as it happens) which like the dew reaches you as teardrops. Accept my countless wishful words, oh my beloved! Accept the flame or shadow of all my days! Accept my passionate raptures, free of all suspicion, and all the caresses of my songs; and my mind which travels the seas, at random with no sail, and follows no star except your eyes; and my muse, dreamily rocked by the passing hours, which weeps when you weep and so weeps often. Accept, oh my beauty, my heavenly treasure, this my heart which would be nothing if love were removed!
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Singable translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2020 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, written 1836, appears in Les voix intérieures, no. 11, first published 1837
This text was added to the website: 2020-03-11
Line count: 48
Word count: 210