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Cher petit oreiller, doux et chaud sous ma tête, Plein de plume choisie, et blanc ! et fait pour moi ! Quand on a peur du vent, des loups, de la tempête, Cher petit oreiller, que je dors bien sur toi ! Beaucoup, beaucoup d'enfants pauvres et nus, sans mère, Sans maison, n'ont jamais d'oreiller pour dormir ; Ils ont toujours sommeil. Ô destinée amère ! Maman ! douce maman ! cela me fait gémir. Et quand j'ai prié Dieu pour tous ces petits anges Qui n'ont pas d'oreiller, moi j'embrasse le mien. Seule, dans mon doux nid qu'à tes pieds tu m'arranges, Je te bénis, ma mère, et je touche le tien ! Je ne m'éveillerai qu'à la lueur première De l'aube ; au rideau bleu c'est si gai de la voir ! Je vais dire tout bas ma plus tendre prière : Donne encore un baiser, douce maman ! Bonsoir ! Prière Dieu des enfants ! le cœur d'une petite fille, Plein de prière, (écoute !) est ici sous mes mains ; On me parle toujours d'orphelins sans famille : Dans l'avenir, mon Dieu, ne fais plus d'orphelins ! Laisse descendre au soir un ange qui pardonne, Pour répondre à des voix que l'on entend gémir. Mets, sous l'enfant perdu que la mère abandonne, Un petit oreiller qui le fera dormir !
H. Lluis sets stanzas 5-6
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Les Œuvres poétiques de Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, Grenoble, Presses universitaires de Grenoble, 1973. The poem is preceded by the following epigraph:
Aux petits des oiseaux il donne la pâture,
Et sa bonté s'étend sur toute la nature.
Athalie.
Text Authorship:
- by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786 - 1859), "L'Oreiller d'une petite fille", appears in Les Pleurs [formerly Le Mémorial de la Scarpe] [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 Claude Augé (1854 - 1924), "L'Oreiller d'un enfant", 1912 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karol Beffa (b. 1973), "L'Enfant dort", published 2018, Vernouillet, Klarthe [sung text not yet checked]
- by Therèse Brenet (b. 1935), "Cher petit oreiller", 1960, published 2014, Lagny/Marne, Éditions de la Fabrique Musique [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Carraut , "L'Oreiller d'une petite fille", published 1870, Paris, A. Jaquot et Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Chaix (1885 - 1973), "Le Petit oreiller" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eugène Chanat , "L'Oreiller d'un enfant", published 1877, Paris, H. Gautier [sung text not yet checked]
- by Pauline Duchambge (1778 - 1858), "L'Oreiller d'une petite fille", published 1835 [ voice and piano ], Paris, J. Meissonnier [sung text not yet checked]
- by Augustin-Jean-Émile d'Etcheverry , "L'Oreiller d'une petite fille", published 1853, Bordeaux, Chez Raver [sung text not yet checked]
- by Augusta Ferdinand-Sallard , "L'Oreiller d'un enfant", published 1860, Paris, Gambogi frères [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jules de Glimes (1814 - 1881), "L'Oreiller d'une petite fille", published 1853 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Brandus et Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sylvain Guillaumet (b. 1972), "L'Oreiller d'un enfant", 2021 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henri Lluis , "Prière", published [1922], stanzas 5-6 [ medium voice, piano, violin ad libitum ], Éd. Jules Raux [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Loret (1837 - 1870), "L'Oreiller d'un enfant", published 1872, Paris, Henry Lemoine [sung text not yet checked]
- by Clément Loret , "L'Oreiller d'un enfant", published 1865, Paris, Loret frères [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacques Offenbach (1819 - 1880), "Dieu des enfans, le cœur d'une petite fille", 1830-1880? [sung text not yet checked]
- by ? Sounier-Geoffroy , "L'Oreiller d'un enfant", published [1876] [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Uffoltz , "L'Oreiller d'une petite fille", published 1875, Paris, J. Hiélard [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2025-03-30
Line count: 25
Word count: 206
Dear little pillow, soft and warm beneath my head, Full of choice feathers, and white! and made for me! When the wind is frightening, or wolves, or stormy weather, Dear little pillow, how well I sleep on you! Many, many poor and naked children, who have no mother, No home, never have a pillow to sleep on; They always feel sleepy. O bitter fate! Mama! sweet Mama! that makes me moan. And when I have prayed to God for all those little angels Who have no pillow, I hug my own. Alone, in my soft nest that you arrange for me at your feet, I bless you, my mother, and I touch yours! I won't wake up until the first light Of dawn; how joyful to see it at the blue curtain! I will very quietly say my tenderest prayer: Give me another kiss, sweet Mama! Good night! Prayer: God of the children! the heart of a little girl, Full of prayers, (listen!) is here beneath my hands; They always speak to me of orphans without a family: In future, my God, don't make any more orphans! Send down in the evening a forgiving angel, To answer the voices that can be heard moaning. Put, beneath the lost child abandoned by its mother A little pillow that will help it sleep!
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Cher petit oreiller" = "Dear little pillow"
"Dieu des enfans, le cœur d'une petite fille" = "God of the children, the heart of a little girl"
"L'Enfant dort" = "The Child Sleeps"
"Le Petit oreiller" = "The Little Pillow"
"L'Oreiller d'un enfant" = "A Child's Pillow"
"L'Oreiller d'une petite fille" = "A Little Girl's Pillow"
"Prière" = "Prayer"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 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 Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786 - 1859), "L'Oreiller d'une petite fille", appears in Les Pleurs [formerly Le Mémorial de la Scarpe]
This text was added to the website: 2025-05-26
Line count: 25
Word count: 221