La mer est infinie
French source:
Jean de la Ville de Mirmont
La mer chante au soleil en battant les falaises
Et mes rêves légers ne se sentent plus d’aise
De danser sur la mer comme des oiseaux soûls.
Le vaste mouvement des vagues les emporte,
La brise les agite et les roule en ses plis;
Jouant dans le sillage, ils feront une escorte
Aux vaisseaux que mon cœur dans leur fuite a suivis.
Ivres d’air et de sel et brûlés par l’écume
De la mer qui console et qui lave des pleurs,
Ils connaîtront le large et sa bonne amertume;
Les goélands perdus les prendront pour des leurs.
The sea is boundless
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
The sea sings in the sun, as it beats the cliffs,
And my light dreams are overjoyed
To dance on the sea like drunken birds.
The waves’ vast motion bears them away,
The breeze ruffles and rolls them in its folds;
Playing in their wake, they will escort the ships,
Whose flight my heart has followed.
Drunk with air and salt, and stung by the spume
Of the consoling sea that washes away tears,
They will know the high seas and the bracing brine;
Lost gulls will take them for their own.
Translations by Richard Stokes, from A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
La mer est infinie
French source:
Jean de la Ville de Mirmont
The sea is boundless
English source:
Richard Stokes
La mer est infinie et mes rêves sont fous.
The sea is boundless and my dreams are wild.
La mer chante au soleil en battant les falaises
The sea sings in the sun, as it beats the cliffs,
Et mes rêves légers ne se sentent plus d’aise
And my light dreams are overjoyed
De danser sur la mer comme des oiseaux soûls.
To dance on the sea like drunken birds.
Le vaste mouvement des vagues les emporte,
The waves’ vast motion bears them away,
La brise les agite et les roule en ses plis;
The breeze ruffles and rolls them in its folds;
Jouant dans le sillage, ils feront une escorte
Playing in their wake, they will escort the ships,
Aux vaisseaux que mon cœur dans leur fuite a suivis.
Whose flight my heart has followed.
Ivres d’air et de sel et brûlés par l’écume
Drunk with air and salt, and stung by the spume
De la mer qui console et qui lave des pleurs,
Of the consoling sea that washes away tears,
Ils connaîtront le large et sa bonne amertume;
They will know the high seas and the bracing brine;
Les goélands perdus les prendront pour des leurs.
Lost gulls will take them for their own.
Composer
Gabriel Fauré
"Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. Among his…
Poet
Jean de la Ville de Mirmont
ean de La Ville de Mirmont was a French poet who died at the age of 27 defending his country during World War I, at Verneuil. Jean de La Ville de Mirmont was born into a Protestant Bordeaux family to Henri and Sophie Malan. He was one of six…