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by Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)
Translation by Louis Fabulet (1862 - 1933) and by Robert, vicomte d'Humières (1868 - 1915)

Oh! hush thee, my baby, the night is...
Language: English 
Oh! hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us,
  And black are the waters that sparkled so green.
The moon, o'er the combers, looks downward to find us
  At rest in the hollows that rustle between.
Where billow meets billow, then soft be thy pillow,
  Ah, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!
The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,
  Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936), "Seal Lullaby", appears in The Jungle Book, heading to the chapter "The White Seal", first published 1894 [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 Robert Whitman Atkinson (1868 - 1933?), "The Seal's Lullaby", published 1909 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Dora Estella Bright (1863 - 1951), "Mother Seal's Lullaby", published 1903 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Henry) Walford Davies, Sir (1869 - 1941), "The Seal's Lullaby", published 1942 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Clayton Johns (1857 - 1932), "The Seal's Lullaby", <<1932 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "Mother Seal's Lullaby", published 1908 [ voice and piano ], from Two Seal Songs, no. 1, London: Chappell & Co. Ltd. [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Roland Leich (1911 - 1995), "Seal Lullaby", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Rick Sowash (b. 1950), "A Seal's Lullabye", 1996, published 1996 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Walter Raymond Spalding (1865 - 1962), "Seal Lullaby", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Erskine Wood , "The White Seal's Lullaby", published 1922 [ voice and piano ], piano part by Randall Thompson [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Louis Fabulet (1862 - 1933) , "Le Phoque blanc", subtitle: "Berceuse phoque", appears in Le Livre de la Jungle (The Jungle Book), first published 1899 and by Robert, vicomte d'Humières (1868 - 1915) , "Le Phoque blanc", subtitle: "Berceuse phoque", appears in Le Livre de la Jungle (The Jungle Book), first published 1899 ; composed by Maurice Delage, Marcel Grandjany, Charles Koechlin.
    • Go to the text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-02-06
Line count: 8
Word count: 72

Dors, mon baby, la nuit est derrière...
Language: French (Français)  after the English 
Dors, mon baby, la nuit est derrière nous,
Et noires sont les eaux qui brillaient si vertes ;
Par-dessus les brisants la lune nous cherche
Au repos entre leurs seins soyeux et doux.
Où flot touche flot, fais là ton nid clos,
Roule ton corps las, mon petit nageur,
Ni vent, ni requin t'éveille ou te blesse
Dormant dans les bras des lents flots berceurs.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Rudyard Kipling. Le Livre de la Jungle. Traduction de Louis Fabulet et Robert d'Humières, Paris, Société du Mercure de France, 1910.


Text Authorship:

  • by Louis Fabulet (1862 - 1933), "Le Phoque blanc", subtitle: "Berceuse phoque", appears in Le Livre de la Jungle (The Jungle Book), first published 1899 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
  • by Robert, vicomte d'Humières (1868 - 1915), "Le Phoque blanc", subtitle: "Berceuse phoque", appears in Le Livre de la Jungle (The Jungle Book), first published 1899 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936), "Seal Lullaby", appears in The Jungle Book, heading to the chapter "The White Seal", first published 1894
    • 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 Maurice Delage (1879 - 1961), "Maktah", op. 21 no. 1 (1934), published 1935, first performed 1935 [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Trois chants de la jungle, no. 1, Éd. Maurice Sénart [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Marcel Grandjany (1891 - 1975), "Berceuse", published 1921 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. Maurice Senart [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950), "Berceuse Phoque", op. 18 no. 1 (1899-1900) [ soprano and piano or orchestra ], from Trois Poèmes du Livre de la Jungle, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-12-02
Line count: 8
Word count: 64

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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