by
Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)
Toute espérance, enfant, est un roseau
Language: French (Français)
Toute espérance, enfant, est un roseau.
Dieu dans ses mains tient nos jours, ma colombe ;
Il les dévide à son fatal fuseau,
Puis le fil casse et notre joie en tombe ;
Car dans tout berceau
Il germe une tombe.
Jadis, vois-tu, l'avenir, pur rayon,
Apparaissait à mon âme éblouie,
Ciel avec l'astre, onde avec l'alcyon,
Fleur lumineuse à l'ombre épanouie.
Cette vision
S'est évanouie !
Si, près de toi, quelqu'un pleure en rêvant,
Laisse pleurer sans en chercher la cause.
Pleurer est doux, pleurer est bon souvent
Pour l'homme, hélas ! sur qui le sort se pose.
Toute larme, enfant,
Lave quelque chose.
About the headline (FAQ)
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 Marcial del Adalid (1826 - 1881), "Toute espérance enfant", published 2009 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies pour chant et piano - Cantares viejos y nuevos de Galicia, par Margarita Soto Viso, no. 29a, Éd. Fundacion Pedro Barrié de la Maza, Conde de Fenosa [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marcial del Adalid (1826 - 1881), "Toute espérance enfant", published 2009 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies pour chant et piano - Cantares viejos y nuevos de Galicia, par Margarita Soto Viso, no. 29b, Éd. Fundacion Pedro Barrié de la Maza, Conde de Fenosa [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Blanpain de Saint-Mars (1875 - 1951), "Romance" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georges Rupès (1834 - 1902), "Désillusion", published [1874] [ high voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, no. 7, Édition Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2019-12-07
Line count: 18
Word count: 101
Every hope, my child, is a reed
Language: English after the French (Français)
Every hope, my child, is a reed.
God holds our days in his hands, my dove;
He unwinds them on his fateful spindle,
Then the thread breaks and down falls our joy;
For in every cradle
There sprouts a grave.
Once, you see, the future, a pure radiance,
Appeared to my dazzled soul,
Sky with its star, wave with its halcyon,
Luminous flower with its outspread shadow.
That vision
Has disappeared!
If near you someone weeps while dreaming,
Let him weep without seeking the reason.
Weeping is sweet, weeping is often good
For a man over whom, alas! fate is looming.
Every tear, child,
Cleanses something.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Désillusion" = "Disillusionment"
"Romance" = "Romance"
"Toute espérance enfant" = "Every hope, my child"
Note for stanza 2, line 3, "halcyon": a mythical seabird, often identified with the kingfisher, that the Greeks regarded as a favorable omen because it was reputed to build its nest only on calm seas.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (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: 2025-10-15
Line count: 18
Word count: 106
