Debout sur le sillon béant, le vieux semeur
En cadence y fait choir la graine nourricière ;
Les corbeaux, attentifs à son prudent labeur,
Avides pélerins, cheminent par derrière,

Nous semons nos espoirs, tout le long du chemin,
Aux sillons de l'amour, aux vent du lendemain !
-- Le temps, sombre corbeau toujours en sentinelle,
Dévore [sur nos pas la semence éternelle]1 !

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Castillon: "sous nos pas la semence immortelle"

Text Authorship:

• by Armand Silvestre (1837 - 1901), "Le semeur", appears in La vie, in 2. La vie des choses : Tableaux et paysages [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 Alexis de Castillon (1838 - 1873), "Le semeur", op. 8 no. 2 (1869), published 1869 [medium voice and piano or orchestra], from Six poésies d'Armand Silvestre, no. 2, Éd. Heugel [ sung text verified 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "The sower", copyright © 2018, (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: 8
Word count: 60