by
Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor
Près de la mer
Language: French (Français)
[Écoûte]1 la chanson des flots,
Leurs rires, leurs cris, leurs sanglots.
En chantant, ils rongent dans l'ombre
Les os blanchis de morts sans nombre.
Rires confus, cris ou sanglots,
Entends-tu la chanson des flots ?
Joyeuse, plaintive, ironique,
Elle est si vague, leur musique !
Rires confus, cris ou sanglots,
Écoute la chanson des flots.
La nuit vient : les cieux et la terre
Sont tout effrayants de mystère.
Entends-tu la chanson des flots,
Leurs rires, leurs cris, leurs sanglots?
Nous contemplons la mer immense :
— Où va notre amour qui commence?
View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with L'Illusion, third edition, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1893, pages 24-25.
1 Lambotte: "Entends-tu"; further changes may exist not shown above.
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 Joseph Béesau (1871 - 1940), "Près de la mer", published 1920 [ high voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, no. 2, Paris, Senart [sung text not yet checked]
- by François Berthet (1873 - 1956), "Près de la mer", op. 3 no. 2 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Joanin & Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by François Berthet (1873 - 1956), "Près de la mer", op. 3 no. 2 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Joanin & Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Bloch (1880 - 1959), "Près de la mer", 1898 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Irène Fuerison (1875 - 1931), "Près de la mer", op. 57 (1919) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Lucien Lambotte (1888 - 1969), "Près de la mer", published 1935 [ voice and piano ], from Six Mélodies sur des poèmes de Jean Lahor, no. 1, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Beside the Sea", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-06-05
Line count: 16
Word count: 90
Beside the Sea
Language: English after the French (Français)
Listen to the song of the waves,
their laughs, their cries, their sobs.
As they sing, they gnaw in the shadows
on the whitened bones of numberless dead.
Confused laughs, cries or sobs...
Can you hear the song of the waves?
Joyful, plaintive, ironical,
their music is so vague!
Confused laughs, cries or sobs...
Listen to the song of the waves.
Night comes: the heavens and the earth
are fearsomely mysterious.
Can you hear the song of the waves,
their laughs, their cries, their sobs?
We are gazing at the vast ocean:
- and where is it going, our love that is beginning?
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:
This text was added to the website: 2022-12-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 102
