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by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786 - 1859)
Translation by Maksymilian Radziszewski (b. 1828)

Le Songe
Language: French (Français) 
C'était un songe : il me parlait.
Que sa voix était douloureuse
"Adieu ! disait-il ; sois heureuse !"
Et cependant il s'en allait

Seul au fond d'une vaste plaine,
De loin il me montrait des fleurs
Et mes pieds me portaient à peine
Et ma voix s'écoulait en pleurs.

Mon cœur s'épuisait à l'attendre
Les chemins se changeaient en flots
J'exhalais son nom sans m'entendre,
Je ne criais que des sanglots.

Il regarde, il pleure, il s'arrête.
"Tu me veux, dit-il, me voilà !
Des ailes planaient sur ma tête
Il était ange..., et s'envola.

Confirmed with Les Œuvres poétiques de Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, ed. by Marc Bertrand, Grenoble : Presses universitaires de Grenoble, 1973.

Note: the poem is preceded by the following epigraph by M. H. de Latouche:

Oui, l'amour vit d'erreurs et de pressentiments.
Eh ! qui ne lui connaît, dans ses vagues tourments,
Pour irriter sa fièvre ou calmer ses alarmes,
Des superstitions, des augures, des charmes ?
On dirait qu'immortel, ce tyran passager,
À son frêle avenir ne voit rien d'étranger.


Text Authorship:

  • by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786 - 1859), "Le Songe" [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):

    [ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Maksymilian Radziszewski (b. 1828) ; composed by Stanisław Moniuszko.
    • Go to the text.

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2021-01-27
Line count: 16
Word count: 92

Sen
Language: Polish (Polski)  after the French (Français) 
W marzeniu sennym widziałam go.
Głos mu drżał, gdy mówił te słowa:
"Szczęśliwą bądź mi zdrowa! . . ."
I pobiegł w dal, gdy wyrzekł to.

Leci w przestrzeń i pustą, i ciemną
I kwiaty mi wskazuje z dal.
A ja słabnę, drżą nogi pode mną,
Milknie głos, bo go tłumi żal! . . . 

Drga serce od bólu strasznego,
Droga zmienia się w fale wód.
Próżno chcę zawołać na niego,
Głos w jęki zmienia żal . . . i trud!

On spogląda . . . łzy roni . . . bieg wstzymuje . . . 
"Każesz tak, on rzekł, służę ci!"
Szmer skrzydeł nad głową swą czuję,
On był aniołem i zniknął mi!

Text Authorship:

  • by Maksymilian Radziszewski (b. 1828) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in French (Français) by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786 - 1859), "Le Songe"
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Stanisław Moniuszko (1819 - 1872), "Sen" [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a CD booklet
        Score: Polona [external link]  [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2021-01-31
Line count: 16
Word count: 114

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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