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by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)

Sentiers où l'herbe se balance
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG
Sentiers où l'herbe se balance,
Vallons, côteaux, bois chevelus,
Pourquoi ce deuil et ce silence?
"Celui qui venait ne vient plus!"

Pourquoi personne à ta fenêtre?
Et pourquoi ton jardin sans fleurs?
Ô maison où donc est ton maître?
"Je ne sais pas! il est ailleurs."

Chien, veille au logis! "Pourquoi faire?
La maison est vide à présent!"
Enfant, qui pleures-tu? "Mon père!"
Femme, qui pleures-tu? "L'absent!"

Où donc est-il allé? "Dans l'ombre!"
Flots qui gémissez sur l'écueil,
D'où venez-vous? "Du bagne sombre!"
Et qu'apportez-vous? "Un cerceuil!"

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, written 1853, appears in Les Châtiments, in 3. La famille est restaurée, no. 11, first published 1853 [author's text not yet checked 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 Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "L'Absent", op. 5 no. 3 (1871), published 1879 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Daniël de Lange (1841 - 1918), "Châtiments" [ high voice and piano ] [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 (Peter Low) , "The absent one", 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: 16
Word count: 87

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–Emily Ezust, Founder

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