Text & Translation
Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher
French source:
Alexandre Dumas
Vous m’avez prise au hameau
Pour chasser la race étrangère
Comme je chassais mon troupeau.
Dans la nuit de mon ignorance
Votre Esprit m’est venu chercher.
Je vais monter sur le bûcher,
Et pourtant j’ai sauvé la France.
Seigneur mon Dieu! je suis heureuse
En sacrifice de m’offrir
Mais on la dit bien douloureuse
Cette mort que je vais souffrir.
Au dernier combat qui s’avance
Marcherai-je sans trébucher?
Je vais monter sur le bûcher,
Et pourtant j’ai sauvé la France.
Allez me chercher ma bannière
Où pour la victoire bénis,
De Jésus Christ et de sa mère
Les deux saints noms sont réunis.
Sur ce symbole d’espérance
Mon œil mourant veut s’attacher.
Je vais monter sur le bûcher,
Et pourtant j’ai sauvé la France.
Joan of Arc at the Stake
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
When You took me from my hamlet
To drive out the foreign race,
As I used to drive my flock.
In the night of my ignorance,
You came in search of me.
I am to go to the stake,
And yet I saved France.
O Lord God! I am content
To offer myself as sacrifice.
But they say it is most painful,
This death that I shall suffer.
Shall I march without stumbling
Into the final, imminent battle?
I am to go to the stake,
And yet I saved France.
Bring me my banner
Where, blessed for victory,
The sacred names of Jesus Christ
And his Mother are united.
I wish my dying gaze to fasten
On this symbol of hope.
I am to go to the stake,
And yet I saved France.
Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher
French source:
Alexandre Dumas
Joan of Arc at the Stake
English source:
Richard Stokes
Mon Dieu! J’étais une bergère, quand
O Lord! I was a shepherdess
Vous m’avez prise au hameau
When You took me from my hamlet
Pour chasser la race étrangère
To drive out the foreign race,
Comme je chassais mon troupeau.
As I used to drive my flock.
Dans la nuit de mon ignorance
In the night of my ignorance,
Votre Esprit m’est venu chercher.
You came in search of me.
Je vais monter sur le bûcher,
I am to go to the stake,
Et pourtant j’ai sauvé la France.
And yet I saved France.
Seigneur mon Dieu! je suis heureuse
O Lord God! I am content
En sacrifice de m’offrir
To offer myself as sacrifice.
Mais on la dit bien douloureuse
But they say it is most painful,
Cette mort que je vais souffrir.
This death that I shall suffer.
Au dernier combat qui s’avance
Shall I march without stumbling
Marcherai-je sans trébucher?
Into the final, imminent battle?
Je vais monter sur le bûcher,
I am to go to the stake,
Et pourtant j’ai sauvé la France.
And yet I saved France.
Allez me chercher ma bannière
Bring me my banner
Où pour la victoire bénis,
Where, blessed for victory,
De Jésus Christ et de sa mère
The sacred names of Jesus Christ
Les deux saints noms sont réunis.
And his Mother are united.
Sur ce symbole d’espérance
I wish my dying gaze to fasten
Mon œil mourant veut s’attacher.
On this symbol of hope.
Je vais monter sur le bûcher,
I am to go to the stake,
Et pourtant j’ai sauvé la France.
And yet I saved France.
Composer
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, music teacher, arranger and organist of the Romantic era. He was also a writer, a philanthropist, a Hungarian nationalist and a Franciscan…
Poet
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas was a French writer. He is very widely read, and is particularly known for his novels The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. The English playwright Watts Phillips, who knew Dumas in his later life, described him as "the…