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Ô silence des nuits dont la voix seule est douce, Quand je n'ai plus sa voix, Mystérieux rayons, qui glissez sur la mousse Dans l'ombre de ses bois, Dites-moi si ses yeux, à l'heure où tout sommeille Se rouvrent doucement Et si ma bien-aimée, alors quemoi je veille, Se souvient de l'absent. Quand la lune est aux cieux, baignant de sa lumière Les grands bois et l'azur; Quand des cloches du soir qui tintent la prière Vibre l'écho si pur, Dites-moi si son âme, un instant recueillie, S'élève avec leur chant, Et si de leurs accords la paisible harmonie Lui rappelle l'absent!
Authorship:
- by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893) [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 Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "L'absent", CG. 327 (1876), published 1877. [voice and piano] [text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , title 1: "The absent one", copyright © 2003, (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: 16
Word count: 102
Silence of the night, whose voice alone is sweet, when I no longer hear her voice, Mysterious rays, gliding over the moss in the shadow of the woods, tell me if her eyes, when all else sleeps, open softly and if my beloved, while I watch, remembers the absent one. When the moon is in the heavens, bathing with her light the woods and the blue, when the evening bells' call to prayer vibrates the pure echo, tell me if her soul, withdrawn a moment, rises up with their song, and whether their chords of peaceful harmony remind her of the absent one!
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2003 by Faith J. Cormier, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893)
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 103