by
Armand Renaud (1836 - 1895)
Assis sur cette blanche tombe
Language: French (Français)
Assis sur cette blanche tombe
Ouvrons notre cœur !
Du marbre, sous la nuit qui tombe,
Le charme est vainqueur.
Au murmure de nos paroles,
Le mort vibrera ;
Nous effeuillerons des corolles
Sur son Sahara.
S'il eut, avant sa dernière heure,
L'amour de quelqu'un,
Il croira, du passé qu'il pleure,
Sentir le parfum.
S'il vécut, sans avoir envie
D'un cœur pour le sien,
Il dira : J'ai perdu ma vie,
N'ayant aimé rien.
Toi, tu feras sonner, ma belle,
Tes ornements d'or,
Pour que mon désir ouvre l'aile
Quand l'oiseau s'endort.
Et sans nous tourmenter des choses
Pour mourir après,
Nous dirons : Aujourd'hui les roses,
Demain les cyprès !
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Les nuits persanes par Armand Renaud, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1870, pages 102-103.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921), "Au cimetière", op. 26 no. 5 (1870), published 1872 [ voice and piano ], from Mélodies persanes, no. 5, Éd. Durand [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921), "Au Cimetière", op. 26b no. 6 (1891), published 1892 [ tenor and piano ], from cantata Nuit persane, no. 6, Paris, Éd. Durand [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916), "Au Cimetière", published 1878 [ medium voice and piano ], Milan, Ricordi [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "At the cemetery", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 106
At the cemetery
Language: English after the French (Français)
Seated on this white tomb
Let us open our hearts!
This marble, as night falls,
Its charm conquers all.
At the murmuring of our voices,
The dead man below will vibrate;
We’ll pluck the flower petals
From his Sahara.
If he had, before his last hour,
The love of someone,
He’ll believe, about the past he mourns,
That he can still smell its fragrance.
If he’d lived, without wanting
Another’s heart for his own,
He’ll say: I’ve lost my life,
as I’ve loved nothing.
You’ll jingle, my beauty,
Your golden ornaments,
To make my desire take wing
As the birds fall asleep.
And without fretting over things
Only to die afterwards,
We’ll say: Today roses,
Tomorrow cypresses!
Translator's notes: Saint-Saëns accompanies the simple vocal line
with a minstrel-like strummed accompaniment.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2021 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:
This text was added to the website: 2021-03-06
Line count: 24
Word count: 117