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Dans Venise la rouge, Pas un bateau qui bouge, Pas un pêcheur dans l'eau, Pas un falot. La lune qui s'efface Couvre son front qui passe D'un nuage étoilé Demi-voilé. Tout se tait, fors les gardes Aux longues hallebardes, Qui veillent aux créneaux Des arsenaux. Ah! maintenant plus d'une Attend, au clair de lune, Quelque jeune muguet, L'oreille au guet. Sous la brise amoureuse La Vanina rêveuse, Dans son berceau flottant Passe en chantant; Tandis que pour la fête Narcissa qui s'apprête, Met devant son miroir Le masque noir. Laissons la vieille horloge Au palais du vieux doge Lui compter de ses nuits Les longs ennuis. Sur sa mer nonchalante, Venise indolente Ne compte ni ses jours Ni ses amours. Car Venise est si belle Qu'une chaîne sur elle Semble un collier jeté Sur la beauté.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), appears in Premières poésies, no. 11 [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 Marcial del Adalid (1826 - 1881), "Venise", published 2009 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies pour chant et piano - Cantares viejos y nuevos de Galicia, par Margarita Soto Viso, no. 16, Éd. Fundacion Pedro Barrié de la Maza, Conde de Fenosa [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "Venise", 1842, published 1855 [ voice and piano four-hands ], from 6 mélodies, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Georges Villain , "Sérénade vénitienne", published 1878-1879 [ medium voice and piano ], in Journal du Musique, no. 77 [sung text not yet checked]
Set in a modified version by Benjamin Louis Paul Godard, Charles Malherbe, Hippolyte Monpou.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "Venice", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (José Miguel Llata) , "Venecia", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2013-04-18
Line count: 36
Word count: 136
Not a boat is stirring in red Venice, not a fisherman is on the water, not a light appears. The fading moon half-veils her brow with a cloud sewn with stars. All is still, except for the guards with their long halberds keeping watch on the ramparts of the arsenals. Oh! Now more than one lady listens anxiously in the moonlight for some young gallant. Under the loving breeze, dreamy Vanina passes, singing, in her floating cradle, while Narcissa readies herself for the party, putting on her black mask before her mirror. Let the old clock in the old Doge's palace count the long boredoms of its nights. On the careless sea, lazy Venice counts neither its days nor its loves, for Venice is so beautiful that a chain around her looks like a necklace thrown around beauty.
Authorship
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2006 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.
Contact:
- a text in French (Français) by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), appears in Premières poésies, no. 11
This text was added to the website: 2006-01-10
Line count: 36
Word count: 138