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Monte, écureuil, monte au grand chêne, Sur la branche des cieux prochaine, Qui plie et tremble comme un jonc. Cigogne, aux vieilles tours fidèle, Oh ! vole ! et monte à tire-d'aile De l'église à la citadelle, Du haut clocher au grand donjon. Vieux aigle, monte de ton aire A la montagne centenaire Que blanchit l'hiver éternel; Et toi qu'en ta couche inquiète Jamais l'aube ne vit muette, Monte, monte, vive alouette, Vive alouette, monte au ciel ! Et maintenant, du haut de l'arbre, Des flèches de la tour de marbre, Du grand mont, du ciel enflammé, A l'horizon, parmi la brume, Voyez-vous flotter une plume, Et courir un cheval qui fume, Et revenir ma bien-aimée ?
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Text Authorship:
- by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Attente", written 1828, appears in Les Orientales, no. 20 [author's text not yet checked 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 César Antonovich Cui (1835 - 1918), "Attente", op. 32 (Sept Mélodies) no. 5, published 1886 [ voice and piano ], St. Petersburg: W. Bessel & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eugénie-Emilie Julliette Folville (1870 - 1946), "Attente", op. 27 no. 3 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Vincent d'Indy (1851 - 1931), "L'attente", 1872-76 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Théodore Jadoul (b. 1848), "Attente" [ medium voice and piano ], from 10 Mélodies, no. 2, Éd. Veuve Léopold Muraille [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis (Trouillon) Lacombe (1818 - 1884), "L'attente" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Felipe Pedrell (1841 - 1922), "Attente" [ high voice and piano ], from 12 Orientales, no. 8, Milan, G. Ricordi [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921), "L'attente", 1855, published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Éd. Richault [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883), "Attente", WWV 55 (1839) [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Alfred Julius Boruttau (1877 - 1940) ; composed by Richard Wagner.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English [singable] (Peter Low) , "Waiting", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 113
Oh squirrel, climb high up the larch till you stand on the topmost branch however much it sways and bends! Oh stork, seek out a higher perch: ascend with firmly-beating wings from the tower of the village church up to the castle battlements! Old eagle, rise up from your eyrie: fly to the timeless snow-capped mountains, to the peak most icy and high! And you who are early to wake, never short of songs at day-break, fly up, fly up, lively lark, lively lark, climb to the sky! Now can you see from up the tree or from the lofty castle keep, the mountain or the sky's blue dome... can you not see out on the plain the pennant streaming in the breeze and the speeding horse that brings the man I love returning home?1
This is a singable translation for the Saint-Saëns version. For the repeat of the last two lines please use: "that speeding horse that brings to me / the man I love arriving home?"
Text Authorship:
- Singable translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2008 by Peter Low, (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 Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Attente", written 1828, appears in Les Orientales, no. 20
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-03
Line count: 21
Word count: 136