Sur l'eau [bleue]1 et profonde
Nous allons voyageant,
Environnant le monde
D'un sillage d'argent,
Des îles de la Sonde,
De l'Inde au ciel brûlé,
Jusqu'au pôle gelé...

Les petites étoiles
Montrent de leur doigt d'or
De quel côté les voiles
Doivent prendre l'essor ;
Sur nos ailes de toiles,
Comme de blancs oiseaux,
Nous effleurons les eaux.

Nous pensons à la terre
Que nous fuyons toujours,
À notre vieille mère,
À nos jeunes amours ;
Mais la vague légère
Avec son doux refrain
Endort notre chagrin.

Le laboureur déchire
Un sol avare et dur ;
L'éperon du navire
Ouvre nos champs d'azur,
Et la mer sait produire,
Sans peine ni travail,
La perle et le corail.

Existence sublime !
Bercés par notre nid,
Nous vivons sur l'abîme
Au sein de l'infini ;
Des flots rasant la cime,
Dans le grand désert bleu
Nous marchons avec Dieu !

G. Fauré sets stanzas 1, 3, 5
F. Bazin sets stanzas 1-3, 5
H. Chrétien sets stanzas 1, 3, 5
L. Bruneau sets stanzas 1-3, 5
B. Reichel sets stanzas 1-2 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Bazin: "vaste"; further changes may exist not shown above.

Text Authorship:

• by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier (1811 - 1872), "Les matelots", written 1841, appears in Poésies diverses, poésies nouvelles et inédites, poésies posthumes, in Poésies diverses 1838-1845 [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 François Emmanuel Joseph Bazin (1816 - 1878), "Les Matelots sur la mer", 1841, stanzas 1-3,5 [ bass and piano ], Paris, Éd. Richault [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Brisset (1872 - 1939), "Les matelots", published 1901 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis-Charles-Bonaventure-Alfred Bruneau (1857 - 1934), "Les matelots", copyright © 1933, stanzas 1-3,5 [ high voice and piano ], from Plein Air, dix poèmes [de Théophile Gautier], no. 1, Paris, Éditions "Au Ménestrel", Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hedwige Chrétien (1859 - 1944), "Les Matelots", published 1887, stanzas 1,3,5 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, A. O'Kelly [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alphonse Duvernoy (1842 - 1907), "Les matelots", op. 7 no. 4 (1871), published 1872 [ baritone and piano ], from Six mélodies, no. 4, Paris, G. Hartmann [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Les Matelots", op. 2 no. 2 (1867), published 1876, stanzas 1,3,5 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Choudens [sung text checked 1 time]
• by L. Giunti-Bellini , "Les matelots", c1855 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jean-Georges Kastner (1810 - 1867), "Les matelots", published 1854 [ vocal quartet and piano ], from Les chants de la vie, no. 15, Paris, Brandus [sung text not yet checked]
• by Léon Charles François Kreutzer (1817 - 1868), "Les matelots", published 1847 [ four-part men's chorus and piano ], from 26 mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 1, Paris, Richault [sung text not yet checked]
• by Auguste Lippmann (1809 - 1891), "Les matelots sur la mer", 1862, published 1863 [ four-part men's chorus and piano ], Paris, Richault [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles-Henri Maréchal (1842 - 1924), "Les matelots", 1870 [ four-part mixed chorus and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Stanisław Pilínski (1839 - 1905), "Les matelots", op. 160 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bernard Reichel (1901 - 1992), "Les matelots", op. 2657 (1970), stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ], from Six chansons, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bernard Reichel (1901 - 1992), "Les matelots", op. 2658 [ voice, flute, oboe, string quartet ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bernard Reichel (1901 - 1992), "Les matelots", op. 2659 (1970) [ voice, 2 violins, cello, and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Yves Robert (b. 1958), "Les matelots", copyright © 1999 [ SA chorus and piano ], Lyon, A cœur joie [sung text not yet checked]
• by Théodore César Salomé (1834 - 1896), "Les matelots", published 1866, Paris, L. Escudier [sung text not yet checked]
• by Célestin Tingry (1819 - 1892), "Les matelots", published 1880 [ four-part men's chorus ], Paris, E. et A. Girod [sung text not yet checked]
• by Brian Wright , "Les matelots", published 2005 [ voice and lute ], from Mélodies pour Colette (1873-1954), no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Shawn Thuris) , "The sailors", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Nele Gramß) , "Die Matrosen", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 35
Word count: 142