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by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786 - 1859)
Translation © by Ahmed E. Ismail
Si l'enfant sommeille
Language: French (Français)
Si l'enfant sommeille, Il verra l'abeille, Quand elle aura fait son miel, Danser entre terre et ciel. Si l'enfant repose, Un ange tout rose, Que la nuit seule on peut voir, Viendra lui dire : "Bonsoir !" Si l'enfant est sage, Sur son doux visage La Vierge se penchera, Et longtemps lui parlera. Si mon enfant m'aime, Dieu dira lui-même : "J'aime cet enfant qui dort ; Qu'on lui porte un rêve d'or ! "Fermez ses paupières, Et sur ses prières, De mes jardins pleins de fleurs, Faites glisser les couleurs. "Ourlez-lui des langes Avec vos doigts d'anges, Et laissez sur son chevet Pleuvoir votre blanc duvet. "Mettez-lui des ailes Comme aux tourterelles, Pour venir dans mon soleil Danser jusqu'à son réveil ! "Qu'il fasse un voyage Aux bras d'un nuage, Et laissez-le, s'il lui plaît, Boire à mes ruisseaux de lait ! "Donnez-lui la chambre De perles et d'ambre, Et qu'il partage en dormant, Nos gâteaux de diamants ! "Brodez-lui des voiles Avec mes étoiles, Pour qu'il navigue en bateau Sur mon lac d'azur et d'eau ! "Que la lune éclaire L'eau pour lui plus claire, Et qu'il prenne au lac changeant Mes plus fins poissons d'argent ! "Mais je veux qu'il dorme Et qu'il se conforme Au silence des oiseaux [Dans leurs maisons de]1 roseaux ! "Car si l'enfant pleure, On entendra l'heure Tinter partout qu'un enfant A fait ce que Dieu défend ! "L'écho de la rue Au bruit accourue, Quand l'heure aura soupiré, Dira : "L'enfant a pleuré !" "Et sa tendre mère, Dans sa nuit amère, Pour son ingrat nourrisson Ne saura plus de chanson ! "S'il brame, s'il crie, Par l'aube en furie Ce cher agneau révolté Sera peut-être emporté ! "Un si petit être Par le toit, peut-être, Tout en criant, s'en ira, Et jamais ne reviendra ! "Qu'il rôde en ce monde, Sans qu'on lui réponde ! Jamais l'enfant que je dis, Ne verra mon paradis ! "Oui ! mais s'il est sage, Sur son doux visage La Vierge se penchera, Et longtemps lui parlera."
G. Bizet sets stanzas 1-2, 4, 7, 5, 12-15, 3
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Les Œuvres poétiques de Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, ed. by Marc Bertrand, Grenoble : Presses universitaires de Grenoble, 1973.
Note: the poem was first published in Le musée des familles, August 1835.
1 Bizet: "Couchés parmi les"Text Authorship:
- by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786 - 1859), "Dormeuse", written 1835, appears in Pauvres Fleurs, first published 1835 [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 Hanna Beekhuis (1889 - 1980), "Dormeuse", published 1947, Amsterdam : Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julie Bernard , "Dormeuse", published 1883, Paris : Henry Lemoine [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georges Bizet (1838 - 1875), "Berceuse sur un vieil air", op. 21 no. 11 (1868), published 1873, stanzas 1-2,4,7,5,12-15,3 [ voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 11, Paris, Éd. Choudens [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Marguerite Canal (1890 - 1978), "Dormeuse", published [1948] [ medium voice and piano ], from Quatre berceuses, no. 3, Édition Max Eschig [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Doré (1830 - 1884), "Dormeuse", op. 2, published [1854] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel; note: this song might begin with stanza 2 since its incipit is "Si l'enfant repose" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Irène Fuerison (1875 - 1931), "Dormeuse", op. 10 (1915) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edmond Michotte (1831 - 1914), "Dormeuse", published [1864] [ high voice and piano ], from Vingt-cinq morceaux de chant à une et à plusieurs voix avec accompagnement de piano, no. 10, Paris, Éd. Flaxland [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alice Pelliot , "Berceuse", Paris : Enoch et Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean Planel (1903 - 1986), "Dormeuse", published 1961, Paris : Ecole du chant [sung text not yet checked]
- by Albert Vinzentini , "Berceuse", published 1883, Paris : Choudens père et fils [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Ahmed E. Ismail) , "Cradle song after an old air", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English [singable] (Michael P Rosewall) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 76
Word count: 327
Cradle song after an old air
Language: English after the French (Français)
1 If the child naps, He will see the bee, Having made her honey, Dance between heaven and earth. 2 If the child lies down, An angel, all in red, Whom one can see only at night, Will come to tell him: "Good evening!" 4 If my child loves me, God will say so himself: I love this sleeping child: Let him be given a golden dream. 7 Give him wings, Like the turtledoves' That he may come with my sun To dance, to dance until he wakes. 5 Close his eyelids And over his prayers From my gardens full of flowers Let glide the colors. 12 But I want him to sleep And to respect The silence of the birds Sleeping among the roses! 13 For if the child cries, One will hear the clocks Chime everywhere that a child Has done what God has forbidden. 14 The echo in the street, Rushing at the noise, After the clock has sighed, Will say: "A child has cried!" 15 And his tender mother, Will lie awake and bitter in the night For her ungrateful child Will alas know the song no more. 3 If the child is well-behaved Toward his sweet face The Virgin will bend down hers And speak to him for a long time.
Note: this is a translation of Bizet's version.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2007 by Ahmed E. Ismail, (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 Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786 - 1859), "Dormeuse", written 1835, appears in Pauvres Fleurs, first published 1835
This text was added to the website: 2007-09-19
Line count: 40
Word count: 216