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Chaque heure, où je songe à ta bonté Si simplement profonde, Je me confonds en prières vers toi. Je suis venu si tard Vers la douceur de ton regard, Et de si loin vers tes deux mains tendues, Tranquillement, par à travers les étendues! J'avais en moi tant de rouille tenace Qui me rongeait à dents rapaces, La confiance J'étais si lourd, j'étais si las J'étais si vieux de méfiance, J'étais si lourd, j'étais si las Du vain chemin de tous mes pas. Je méritais si peu la merveilleuse joie De voir tes pieds illuminer ma voie, Que j'en reste tremblant encore et presque en pleurs Et humble à tout jamais, en face du bonheur.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Émile Verhaeren (1855 - 1916), no title, written 1896, appears in Les heures claires, no. 5, Bruxelles, Éd. Edmond Deman, first published 1896 [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 Hendrik Andriessen (1892 - 1981), "Chaque heure, où je songe", published c1920 [ medium voice and piano ], Amsterdam, Éd. G. Alsbach & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nadia Boulanger (1887 - 1979) and by Stéphane Raoul Pugno (1852 - 1914), "Ta bonté", 1909, published 1910 [ high voice and piano ], from Les heures claires, no. 6, Paris, Éd. "Au Ménestrel" Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Désiré Émile Inghelbrecht (1880 - 1965), "Chaque heure où je songe à ta bonté", 1962, published 1963 [ high voice and piano ], from Les heures claires, no. 1, Éd. Musique contemporaine [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Émile Naoumoff (b. 1962), "Ta bonté", 2004/6, published 2008 [ voice and piano ], from Quatre mélodies, no. 2, Schott [sung text not yet checked]
- by Émile Naoumoff (b. 1962), "Ta bonté", 1962 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies choisies, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacques Guillaume de Sauville de la Presle (1888 - 1969), "Heure claire", published 1923 [ voice and piano ], from Les Heures, no. 1, Paris, Éd. Rouart, Lerolle & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-11-01
Line count: 18
Word count: 115
Every hour of the day, as I think of your goodness so simple and deep, I utter profuse prayers for you. I came so late to the gentleness of your gaze, I came from so far to your two outstretched hands, calmly, across wide expanses! I had within me so much tenacious rust which gnawed with rapacious teeth on my confidence. I was so heavy, I was so weary, I was so old with distrust, I was so heavy, I was so weary of the vain path of all my footsteps. I so little deserved the marvellous joy of seeing your feet illuminate my path that I still tremble from that, I'm almost in tears, and humble for evermore, with happiness in front of me.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 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 Émile Verhaeren (1855 - 1916), no title, written 1896, appears in Les heures claires, no. 5, Bruxelles, Éd. Edmond Deman, first published 1896
This text was added to the website: 2022-08-24
Line count: 18
Word count: 125