If these purple curtains and these burning clouds

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by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Si ces rideaux de pourpre et ces ardents...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

[Si ces rideaux de pourpre et ces ardents nuages]¹
Que chasse dans l'éther le souffle des orages,
Sont des guerriers couchés dans leurs armures d'or,
Penche-toi, noble cœur, sur ces vertes collines,
Et vois tes compagnons briser leurs javelines
Sur cette froide terre, où ton corps est resté !

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• L. Boulanger

About the headline (FAQ)

View text without footnotes
¹ Boulanger: "Si en rideaux de pourpre et en ardents nuages"

Text Authorship:

by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), no title, appears in Premières poésies, in La Coupe et les Lèvres, excerpt from Act IV, scene 1 (Le Chœur) [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):

[ None yet in the database ]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

by Lili Boulanger (1893 - 1918), "Pour les funérailles d'un soldat", 1912 [ baritone, chorus, and piano (3 hands) ]
- View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2015-02-14
Line count: 6
Word count: 49

If these purple curtains and these...

Language: English after the French (Français)

[If these purple curtains and these burning clouds]¹
Chased through the ether by the blast of the storm
Are warriors laid out in their golden armor, 
Bend down, noble heart, over these green hills, 
And watch your comrades break their javelins
On this cold earth, where your body met its end!

About the headline (FAQ)

View text without footnotes
¹ Boulanger: "If as purple curtains and as burning clouds"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 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:

a text in French (Français) by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), no title, appears in Premières poésies, in La Coupe et les Lèvres, excerpt from Act IV, scene 1 (Le Chœur)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-03-11
Line count: 6
Word count: 52