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Nous emmenions en esclavage Cent chrétiens, pêcheurs de corail ; Nous recrutions pour le sérail Dans tous les moûtiers du rivage. En mer, les hardis écumeurs ! Nous allions de Fez à Catane... Dans la galère capitane Nous étions quatre-vingts rameurs. 1 On signale un couvent à terre. Nous jetons l'ancre près du bord. A nos yeux s'offre tout d'abord [Une fille du monastère. Prés des flots, sourde à leurs rumeurs, Elle dormait sous un platane... Dans la galère capitane Nous étions quatre-vingts rameurs.]2 - La belle fille, il faut vous taire, Il faut nous suivre. Il fait bon vent. Ce n'est que changer de couvent. Le harem vaut le monastère. Sa hautesse aime les primeurs, Nous vous ferons mahométane... Dans la galère capitane Nous étions quatre-vingts rameurs. Elle veut fuir vers sa chapelle. - Osez-vous bien, fils de Satan ? - Nous osons, dit le capitan. Elle pleure, supplie, appelle. [Malgré sa plainte et ses clameurs, On l'emporta dans la tartane... Dans la galère capitane Nous étions quatre-vingts rameurs.]2 Plus belle encor dans sa tristesse, Ses yeux étaient deux talismans. Elle valait mille tomans ; On la vendit à sa hautesse. Elle eut beau dire : Je me meurs ! De nonne elle devint sultane... Dans la galère capitane Nous étions quatre-vingts rameurs.
P. Curet sets stanzas 1-5
Oscar I sets stanza 1
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Oscar I adds, "Allah!"
2 omitted by Paul Puget.
Text Authorship:
- by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Chanson de pirates", written 1828, appears in Les Orientales, no. 8 [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 Max Arham (flourished 1911-1917), "Chanson de pirates", <<1917 [ voice and piano ], from Douze mélodies, 4e série, no. 69, Paris, Maurice Sénart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul-Charles-Marie Curet (1848 - 1917), as Paul Puget, "Chanson de pirates", 1870-79?, stanzas 1-5 [ high voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, Vol. 1, no. 3, Éd. Girod [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Yuly Antonovich Kapri (1831 - 1918), as Jules Kapry, "Les Pirates" [ high voice and piano ], from Recueil de Mélodies, no. 13, Moscow, Jurgenson [sung text not yet checked]
- by Anatole Lionnet (1832 - 1896), "Chanson de Pirates", <<1875 [ tenor and piano ], from Six mélodies, no. 1, Paris, Édition 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Oscar I, King of Sweden (1799 - 1859), "Chanson de pirates", published 1842, stanza 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Felipe Pedrell (1841 - 1922), "Chanson de pirates" [ high voice and piano ], from 12 Orientales, no. 5, Milan, G. Ricordi [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacques Roques (d. 1921), "Chanson de pirates", published 1893 [ voice and piano ], from Souvenirs du Conservatoire, no. 4, Paris, Éd. Gounin-Ghidone [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolphe-Louis-Charles Vogel (1808 - 1892), "Chanson de pirates", published 1835 [ medium voice and piano ], in Le Ménestrel, journal de musique, May 24, 1835, no. 78 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Pirate Song", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2013-10-31
Line count: 40
Word count: 205
We carried into slavery a hundred Christians - coral fishers - we took recruits for the harem from all the nunneries of the coast. Set sail, bold plunderers! We went from Fez to Catania. In the leading galley we were eighty rowers. Someone pointed out a convent on land. We anchored near the shore. The first thing we saw was a girl from the convent. Near the waves, deaf to their noise, she was sleeping under a plane-tree... In the leading galley we were eighty rowers. - Beautiful girl, you must keep silent, and follow us. The wind is good. You'll just be changing convents. The harem is as good as the nunnery. His highness likes fresh fruit. We will make you a Muslim... In the leading galley we were eighty rowers. She wanted to flee to her chapel. - Sons of Satan, do you dare? -_ We dare, said the captain. She weeps, she begs, she calls out. Despite her pleas and her clamour she was carried into the boat... In the leading galley we were eighty rowers. More beautiful still in her sadness, her eyes were two talismans. She was worth a thousand gold coins; she was sold to his highness. In vain she said: I am dying! This nun became a sultana... In the leading galley we were eighty rowers.
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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Chanson de pirates", written 1828, appears in Les Orientales, no. 8
This text was added to the website: 2022-09-05
Line count: 40
Word count: 219