Songs
Rêverie
(1890)
Rêverie
Puisqu'ici-bas toute âmeDonne à quelqu'unSa musique, sa flamme,Ou son parfum;Puisqu'ici toute choseDonne toujoursSon épine ou sa roseA ses amours;Puisque l'air à la brancheDonne l'oiseau;Que l'aube à la pervencheDonne un peu d'eau;Puisque, lorsqu'elle arriveS'y reposer,L'onde amère à la riveDonne un baiser;Je te donne, à cette heure,Penché sur toi,La chose la meilleureQue j'aie en moi!Reçois donc ma pensée,Triste d'ailleurs,Qui, comme une rosée,T'arrive en pleurs!Reçois mes voeux sans nombre,O mes amours!Reçois la flamme ou l'ombreDe tous mes jours!Mes transports pleins d'ivresses,Pur de soupçons,Et toutes les caressesDe mes chansons!
Reverie
Since here on earth each soul Gives someoneIts music, its ardour,Or its perfume;Since here all thingsWill always giveTheir thorns or rosesTo those they love;Since the breeze givesTo the branch the bird;And dawn to the periwinkleGives of its dew;Since when they comeTo settle there,The briny wavesGive the shore a kiss;I give you, at this hour,Inclining over you,The finest thingsI have in me!Accept, then, my thoughts,Sad though they be,Which like drops of dewCome to you as tears!Accept my countless vows,O my loves!Accept the flame and the shadeOf all my days!My frenzied rapture,Devoid of all distrust,And all the caressesOf my songs!
Translation © Richard Stokes, from A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
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Composer
Reynaldo Hahn was a French composer, conductor and music critic. He moved to France at the age of three from Venezuela.
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Poet
Victor Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry and then from his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831 (known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame). He also produced more than 4,000 drawings, which have since been admired for their beauty, and earned widespread respect as a campaigner for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment.
Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism; his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Panthéon. His legacy has been honoured in many ways, including his portrait being placed on French franc banknotes.
Taken from Wikipedia. To view the full article, please click here.
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Rêverie
Reverie
If you would like to use our texts and translations, please click here for more information.
Composer
Reynaldo Hahn was a French composer, conductor and music critic. He moved to France at the age of three from Venezuela.
Read more here.
See Full Entry
Poet
Victor Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry and then from his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831 (known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame). He also produced more than 4,000 drawings, which have since been admired for their beauty, and earned widespread respect as a campaigner for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment.
Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism; his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Panthéon. His legacy has been honoured in many ways, including his portrait being placed on French franc banknotes.
Taken from Wikipedia. To view the full article, please click here.
See Full Entry
Sorry, no further description available.
About Oxford Lieder
Oxford Lieder is one of the world's leading promoters of song and the winner of a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award. The focal point of each year is the two-week Oxford Lieder Festival in October.
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