Mina
French source:
Émile Deschamps
et Zéphir fait sa ronde.
Que je voudrais dans mon bateau
te balancer sur l'onde.
Viens, Mina, viens! je meurs sans toi,
la douce nuit t'appelle;
ta mère dort, je veille moi,
que craindrais-tu, ma belle?
Mina
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
And breezes flutter all around.
How I long to row you in my boat
On the rocking waves!
Come, my love, come, I die without you,
Sweet night calls you;
Your mother is asleep, I watch over you,
What is there to fear, my love?
Translation © Richard Stokes, from A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Mina
French source:
Émile Deschamps
Mina
English source:
Richard Stokes
Viens, Mina, viens! le soir est beau
Come, my love, come, the night is fair,
et Zéphir fait sa ronde.
And breezes flutter all around.
Que je voudrais dans mon bateau
How I long to row you in my boat
te balancer sur l'onde.
On the rocking waves!
Viens, Mina, viens! je meurs sans toi,
Come, my love, come, I die without you,
la douce nuit t'appelle;
Sweet night calls you;
ta mère dort, je veille moi,
Your mother is asleep, I watch over you,
que craindrais-tu, ma belle?
What is there to fear, my love?
Composer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a German opera composer of Jewish birth who has been described as perhaps the most successful stage composer of the nineteenth century.
Poet
Émile Deschamps
Émile de Saint-Amand Deschamps was a French poet.