My soul, there is a country
  [Afar]1 beyond the stars,
Where stands a wingèd sentry
  All skilful in the wars:

There, above noise and danger
  Sweet Peace sits [crown'd]2 with smiles
And One, born in a manger
  Commands the beauteous files.

He is thy gracious Friend
  And -- O my soul, awake! --
Did in pure love descend
  To die here for thy sake.

If thou canst [get]3 but thither,
  There grows the [flower]4 of Peace,
The Rose that cannot wither,
  Thy fortress and thy ease.

Leave then thy foolish ranges,
  For none can thee secure
But One who never changes,
  Thy God, thy life, thy cure.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Dyson, Parry: "Far"
² Parry: "crowned"
³ Dyson: "go"
⁴ Parry: "flow'r"

Text Authorship:

• by Henry Vaughan (1622 - 1695), "Peace", first published 1650 [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 Jean Mary Anderson (b. 1939), "Peace", 1997, from Two Songs for Alto & Organ, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gordon Ware Binkerd (1916 - 2003), "Peace" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Olivier Greif (1950 - 2000), "Peace", op. 310 no. 9 (1995) [ voice and piano ], from Les chants de l'âme, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "My soul, there is a country", from Songs of Farewell, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Kees Schoonenbeek , "Peace", 1989, from Three wintersongs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Peace", published 1899 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

• by George Dyson (1883 - 1964), "Come to me God ; but do not come", from Quo Vadis: a Cycle of Poems, no. 7
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    

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

• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Paix", copyright © 2010, (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: 20
Word count: 109

Mon âme, il y a un pays
Loin au-delà des étoiles ;
Où se tient une sentinelle ailée
Très adroite dans les guerres :

Là, au-dessus du bruit et du danger
La douce paix est assise couronnée de sourires
Et l'Unique, né dans une crèche,
Commande les magnifiques files.

Il est ton ami plein de grâce
Et, ô mon âme, éveille-toi !
Par pur amour il est descendu
Pour mourir ici pour ton salut.

Si tu peux n'aller que là,
Il y pousse la fleur de la Paix,
La Rose qui ne peut se faner,
Ta forteresse et ton bien-être.

Quitte alors tes activités insensées
Car rien ne peut te protéger
Si ce n'est l'Unique qui ne change jamais,
Ton Dieu, ta vie, ta guérison.