[Tout près du lac filtre une source, Entre deux pierres, dans un coin ; Allègrement l'eau prend sa course Comme pour s'en aller bien loin. Elle murmure :]1 « [Oh]2 ! quelle joie ! Sous la terre il faisait si noir ! Maintenant ma rive verdoie, Le ciel se mire à mon miroir. « Les myosotis aux fleurs bleues Me disent : ‹ Ne m'oubliez pas ! › Les libellules de leurs queues M'égratignent dans leurs ébats ; « À ma coupe l'oiseau s'abreuve... Qui sait ? après quelques détours Peut-être deviendrai-je un fleuve Baignant vallons, rochers et tours. « Je broderai de mon écume Ponts de pierre, quais de granit, Emportant le steamer qui fume À l'Océan où tout finit. » Ainsi la jeune source jase, Formant cent projets d'avenir ; Comme l'eau qui bout dans un vase, Son flot ne peut se contenir ; Mais le berceau touche à la tombe, Le géant futur meurt petit ; Née à peine, la source tombe Dans le grand lac qui l'engloutit !
L. Bruneau sets stanzas 1-3, 5, 7
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)First published in the journal L'Artiste, May 30, 1858.
1 omitted by Barraine.
2 Barraine: "Ah " ; further changes may exist not shown above.
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier (1811 - 1872), "La source", appears in Émaux et Camées, first published 1863 [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 Tony Aubin (1907 - 1981), "La source", <<1929 [ soprano, 2-part women's chorus, and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Claude Augé (1854 - 1924), "La source", published 1892 [ voice, unaccompanied ], from Les chants de l'enfance, Paris, Librairie Labrousse [sung text not yet checked]
- by Elsa Barraine (1910 - 1999), "La source", 1929, published 1931 [ soprano, 2-part women's chorus, and orchestra ], Paris, Enoch [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis-Charles-Bonaventure-Alfred Bruneau (1857 - 1934), "La source", published 1932, copyright © 1933, stanzas 1-3,5,7 [ high voice and piano ], from Plein Air, dix poèmes [de Théophile Gautier], no. 2, Paris, Éd. "Au Ménestrel" Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Sylvère Caffot (1903 - 1993), as René Sylviano, "La source", <<1929 [ four-part women's chorus and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Auguste Chapuis (1858 - 1933), "La source", published 1898 [ three-part chorus a cappella ], Paris, Durand [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marcel Dautremer (1906 - 1978), "La source", <<1929 [ four-part mixed chorus and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Yvonne Desportes (1907 - 1993), "La source", <<1929 [ four-part mixed chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gaston Doin (1878 - 1962), "La source", published 1951 [ voice and piano ], from Quelques émaux et camées, no. 4, Paris, A. Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacques Dupont, dit Jacque-Dupont (1906 - 1985), "La source", <<1929 [ soprano, 2-part women's chorus, and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georges Favre (1905 - 1993), "La source", <<1929 [ soprano, contralto, SATB chorus, and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865 - 1950), "La petite source", op. 77 (c1891), published 1905 [ vocal duet or 2-part chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louise-Marie Simon (1903 - 1990), as Claude Arrieu, "La source", 1929 [ soprano, three-part chorus, and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marc Vaubourgouin (1907 - 1983), "La source", <<1929 [ soprano, mixed chorus, and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Gyula Vargha) , "A forrás"
- RUS Russian (Русский) (Nikolay Stepanovich Gumilyov) , "Ключ ", first published 1914
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2013-04-02
Line count: 28
Word count: 161
Bliz ozera istochnik pleshchet, Mezh dvukh kamnej jemu legko; Voda smejushchajasja bleshchet, Kak by sobravshis' daleko. Ona lepechet: Ja dovol'na, Tak zhutko bylo pod zemljoj, Teper' moj bereg — lug privol'nyj, Igrajet solnce nado mnoj. Mne nezabudki golubye Stydlivo shepchut: ne zabud'! Strekoz'i kryl'ja zolotye Menja carapajut chut'-chut'. Iz kubka mojego p'jot ptica… Kto znajet? — mozhet byt', potom I ja mogu rekoj razlit'sja, Chto mojet kholm, utjos i dom. O, kak odenut penoj vody Mosty granitnye v tuman, Nesja bol'shije parokhody Vo vsjo berushchij okean. Tak sozidajet sotni planov Na budushcheje junyj kljuch, Kak kipjatok gorjachikh chanov, Bezhit potok jego, kipuch. No kolybel' blizka k mogile, Gigant nash umirajet mal, On padajet, jedva lish' v sile, V lezhashchij okolo proval.
Confirmed with Готье Т. Эмали и камеи, translated by Николай Степанович Гумилёв, Сост. Г. К. Косиков — М.: Радуга, 1989, pages 123—125.
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Note on TransliterationsShow untransliterated (original) text
Text Authorship:
- by Nikolay Stepanovich Gumilyov (1886 - 1921), "Ключ ", first published 1914 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier (1811 - 1872), "La source", appears in Émaux et Camées, first published 1863
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 ]
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-08-31
Line count: 28
Word count: 121