by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
La mer est plus belle
Language: French (Français)
La mer est plus belle Que les cathédrales, Nourrice fidèle, Berceuse de râles, La mer qui prie La Vierge Marie ! Elle a tous les dons Terribles et doux. J'entends ses pardons Gronder ses courroux. Cette immensité N'a rien d'entêté. O! si patiente, Même quand méchante ! Un souffle ami hante La vague, et nous chante : « Vous sans espérance, Mourez sans souffrance ! » Et puis sous les cieux Qui s'y rient plus clairs, Elle a des airs bleus. Roses, gris et verts... Plus belle que tous, Meilleure que nous !
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), no title, written 1880, appears in Sagesse, in Sagesse III, no. 15, Paris, Société générale de Librairie catholique, Éd. Victor Pamé, first published 1881 [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 Jacques Beers (1902 - 1947), "La mer est plus belle", published 1943 [ voice and piano ], from Six chants de Paul Verlaine, no. 2, Amsterdam [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nadia Boulanger (1887 - 1979), "La mer est plus belle", 1910, copyright © 1914 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "La mer est plus belle", L. 85/(81) no. 1 (1891), published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies, no. 1, Paris, Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]
- by André Dulaurens (1873 - 1932), "La mer est plus belle" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Durey (1888 - 1979), "La mer est plus belle", op. 2 (Trois poèmes) no. 3 (1914) [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "La mer de Bournemouth", op. 85 no. 7 (2001), published 2002 [ eight-part chorus (SSAATTBB chorus) ], from Sieben Chansons zu acht Stimmen nach Texten von Paul Verlaine, no. 7, Goldbach [sung text not yet checked]
- by François-Joseph Sterck , "La mer est plus belle", [1924] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Théodore Terestchenko (1888 - 1950), "Les vagues", published [1913] [ voice and piano ], from Quatre mélodies, no. 2, Paris, Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , copyright © 2018
- GER German (Deutsch) (Nele Gramß) , "Das Meer ist schöner", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , copyright © 2020, (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: 24
Word count: 88