Lyrics for Berceuse

[nyankoframe]

I finally got unlazy enough to type them out this evening.

The translation in the programme notes for the CD featuring this song ("Louis Moreau Gottschalk: A Night in the Tropics", at the Hot Springs Music Festival conducted by Richard Rosenberg in 1999) was done by Julien Benichou, Daphne Eller and Laura Rosenberg.

The perfomers were:
Barbara Richards, piano
Paul Rowe, baritone


Voici l'heure où l'enfant s'endort,
Apaisé! Sa mère chante,
Et sa voix caressante,
Berce le doux trésor.

Fais dodo, gentiment, ta maman veillera sur toi;
Elle est là, cher petit, celle qui n'aimera que toi.
Il dort! Il dort! Sa bouche s'entr'ouvre, rose,
Il dort! Il dort! Sur son front ma lèvre se pose.
Fais dodo, mon mignon, et ta maman priera pour toi.
Ton bonheur est ma joie, et mon cæur ne vivra qu'en toi.

Mais bientôt, à son tour, elle s'est endormie
Tout près de son enfant, dans la chambre attiédie.
Et sans bruit, lentement,
Un voile se soulève.

Dans la nuit, doucement,
Elle rêve:
L'Avenir apparaît radieux! Ah! dormez êtres aimés!
Dormez, petit enfant; tendre mère, dormez!

English:
Now is the time for the child to sleep,
He is quiet! His mother sings,
And her caressing voice
Rocks her sweet treasure.

Go to sleep, your mother watches over you,
She is here, dear one, who will love only you.
He sleeps! He sleeps! His pink mouth slightly open.
He sleeps! He sleeps! On his forehead my lips alight.
Go to sleep, my litle one, and mother will pray for you.
Your happiness is my joy, and my heart will live only in you.

But soon, she too, falls asleep,
Next to her child, in the warm room.
And, slowly and soundlessly,
A veil rises.

In the night, softly,
She dreams:
The radiant future appears! Ah! Sleep, beloved ones!
Sleep, little child; tender mother, sleep!