Lullaby | Child, give yourself to the sleep that closes your eyelash

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by Louis Pomey (1835 - 1901)

Translation © by Barbara Miller

Berceuse

Language: French (Français) after the Polish (Polski)

Our translations: ENG

Enfant, cède au sommeil qui ferme ta paupière,
Je suis auprès de toi, priant Dieu pour l'absent,
Goûte d'un doux repos le charme bien faisant,
Et près de ton berceau, ne cherche pas ton père.

Depuis qu'il est parti défendre sa patrie,
Au seuil désert je viens l'attendre dès l'aurore.
Et debout sur le seuil, le soir me trouve encore !
Hélas ! l'espoir a fui mon âme endolorie !

Text Authorship:

by Louis Pomey (1835 - 1901), "Berceuse", first published 1864 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Polish (Polski) by Piotr Maszyński (1855 - 1934), "Kołysanka" [text unavailable]
- 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 Pauline Viardot-García (1821 - 1910), "Berceuse", VWV 4030 (1848) [ voice and piano ], from 12 Mazurkas for voice and piano, no. 10, note: arrangement of Chopin's Mazurka #24 in C Major, op. 33 no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Barbara Miller) , "Lullaby", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Ted Perry , Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 67

Lullaby

Language: English after the French (Français)

Child, give yourself to the sleep that closes your eyelash,
I am near you, praying to God for the one who is absent,
Taste of a sweet rest the charm that does good,
And near your cradle, don't seek your father.

Since he left to defend his country,
I come at dawn to await him at the deserted threshold,
And, on the threshold, evening still finds me!
Alas! Hope has fled my sorrowful soul!

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2004 by Barbara Miller, (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:

a text in French (Français) by Louis Pomey (1835 - 1901), "Berceuse", first published 1864
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Polish (Polski) by Piotr Maszyński (1855 - 1934), "Kołysanka" [text unavailable]
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2004-04-27
Line count: 8
Word count: 74