Songs

Les Hiboux

by Louis Vierne

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Text & Translation

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Les Hiboux (1857)
French source: Charles Baudelaire

Sous les ifs noirs qui les abritent
Les hiboux se tiennent rangés
Ainsi que des dieux étrangers
Dardant leur oeil rouge. Ils méditent.

Sans remuer ils se tiendront
Jusqu'à l'heure mélancolique
Où, poussant le soleil oblique,
Les ténèbres s'établiront.

Leur attitude au sage enseigne
Qu'il faut en ce monde qu'il craigne
Le tumulte et le mouvement;

L'homme ivre d'une ombre qui passe
Porte toujours le châtiment
D'avoir voulu changer de place.

Owls (2000)
English translation © Richard Stokes

Beneath the shelter of black yews,
The owls perch in a row,
Like alien gods, whose
Red eyes flash. They meditate.

Motionless they will perch
Till the melancholy hour
When, pushing aside the slanting sun,
The shadows will settle into place.

From their pose the wise man learns
That in this world he ought to fear
All movement and commotion;

The man drunk on fleeting shadows
Will always pay the penalty
For having wished to roam.

Translations by Richard Stokes, author of A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)

Les Hiboux (1857)
French source: Charles Baudelaire

Owls (2000)
English source: Richard Stokes

Sous les ifs noirs qui les abritent
Beneath the shelter of black yews,
Les hiboux se tiennent rangés
The owls perch in a row,
Ainsi que des dieux étrangers
Like alien gods, whose
Dardant leur oeil rouge. Ils méditent.
Red eyes flash. They meditate.

Sans remuer ils se tiendront
Motionless they will perch
Jusqu'à l'heure mélancolique
Till the melancholy hour
Où, poussant le soleil oblique,
When, pushing aside the slanting sun,
Les ténèbres s'établiront.
The shadows will settle into place.

Leur attitude au sage enseigne
From their pose the wise man learns
Qu'il faut en ce monde qu'il craigne
That in this world he ought to fear
Le tumulte et le mouvement;
All movement and commotion;

L'homme ivre d'une ombre qui passe
The man drunk on fleeting shadows
Porte toujours le châtiment
Will always pay the penalty
D'avoir voulu changer de place.
For having wished to roam.

Composer

Louis Vierne

Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. Read more here.

Poet

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Pierre Baudelaire was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil), expresses the changing nature of…

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