Au bord de l'eau | Au Bord de l'eau | S'asseoir tous deux au bord d'un flot qui passe

by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907)

S'asseoir tous deux au bord d'un flot...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT ENG GER ITA SPA SPA SPA

S'asseoir tous deux au bord [d'un]¹ flot qui passe,
  Le voir passer ;
Tous deux, s'il glisse un nuage en l'espace,
  Le voir glisser ;
À l'horizon, s'il fume un toit de chaume,
  Le voir fumer ;
Aux alentours si quelque fleur embaume,
  S'en embaumer ;
Si quelque fruit, où les abeilles goûtent,
  Tente, y goûter ;
Si quelque oiseau, dans les bois qui l'écoutent,
  Chante, écouter...
Entendre au pied du saule où l'eau murmure
  L'eau murmurer ;
Ne pas sentir, tant que ce rêve dure,
  Le temps durer ;
Mais n'apportant de passion profonde
  Qu'à s'adorer,
Sans [nul]² souci des querelles du monde,
  Les ignorer ;
Et seuls, [heureux]³ devant tout ce qui [lasse]⁴,
  Sans se lasser,
Sentir l'amour, devant tout ce qui passe,
  Ne point passer !

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• G. Fauré • L. Sachs • P. Viardot

G. Fauré sets lines 1-8, 13-24
P. Viardot sets lines 1-8, 13-24

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Fauré: "du"
² Viardot: "un"
³ Fauré, Sachs: "tous deux"
⁴ Viardot, Sachs: "passe"

Text Authorship:

by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), "Au bord de l'eau", written c1872, appears in Les vaines tendresses, no. 4, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1878 [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 Salvatore Auteri-Manzocchi (1845 - 1924), "Tous deux", published [1885] [ vocal duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano with piano ], from Nouvelles Mélodies, no. 7, Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel et Fils [sung text not yet checked]
by Alfredo-Antonio-Maria Barbirolli (1871 - 1931), "Au Bord de l'eau", <<1901 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. F. Laurens [sung text not yet checked]
by Léon Delafosse (1874 - 1951), "Au bord d'un flot qui passe", published 1904 [ high voice and piano ], from Six mélodies pour une ou deux voix et piano, no. 3, Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
by (François-Clément) Théodore Dubois (1837 - 1924), "Au bord de l'eau", published 1900 [ high voice and piano ], from Vaines Tendresses, 6 poésies de Sully-Prudhomme, no. 3, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Au Bord de l'eau", op. 8 no. 1 (1875), published 1877, first performed 1878, lines 1-8,13-24 [ voice and piano ], listen to Benoît Rivillon's spoken-text overlay (a useful tool for students) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Edmond Hippeau (1849 - 1921), "Ceux qui aiment", subtitle: "Au bord de l'eau", op. 74, published [1903] [ vocal duet for soprano and tenor with piano ], Paris, Éd. E. Fromont [sung text not yet checked]
by Jenő Hubay (1858 - 1937), "Au bord de l'eau", op. 17 (Cinq mélodies) no. 4, published 1890 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Catherine d'Ollone, née Catherine de Pontière (1882 - 1954), "Au bord de l'eau", published 1925? [ low voice and piano ], Éd. Maurice Senart (Salabert) [sung text not yet checked]
by Émile Paladilhe (1844 - 1926), "Au bord de l'eau", 1885 [ vocal duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano with piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Léo Sachs (1856 - 1930), "Au bord de l'eau", op. 118 (<<1909) [ high voice and piano ], from Douze mélodies, no. 1, Éd. L. Grus [sung text checked 1 time]
by Jeff Smallman (b. 1965), "Au bord de l'eau", published 2003 [ high voice and piano ], from Tableaux éternels, no. 5, Hensall, Ontario (Canada), Lighthouse Music Publications [sung text not yet checked]
by Georges Taconet (1889 - 1962), "Au bord de l'eau", op. 40 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul Viardot (1857 - 1941), "Au bord de l'eau", published 1887, lines 1-8,13-24 [ high voice and piano ], from Six mélodies, poésies de T. Gautier, M. Carré, Sully Prudhomme et M. Bouchor, no. 4, Paris, Henri Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "Au bord de l'eau", published 1887?8 [ voice and piano ], London: Pitt and Hatzfeld [sung text not yet checked]

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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 125