Dans un sommeil que charmait ton image
Je rêvais le bonheur, ardent mirage,
Tes yeux étaient plus doux, ta voix pure et sonore,
Tu rayonnais comme un ciel éclairé par l'aurore;
Tu m'appelais et je quittais la terre
Pour m'enfuir avec toi vers la lumière,
Les cieux pour nous entr'ouvraient leurs nues,
Splendeurs inconnues, lueurs divines entrevues,
Hélas! Hélas! triste réveil des songes
Je t'appelle, ô nuit, rends moi tes mensonges,
Reviens, reviens radieuse,
Reviens ô nuit mystérieuse!
My best attempt at a fairly literal translation:
In a slumber that enchanted (charmed) your image,
I dreamed of the happiness, ardent mirage,
Your eyes were sweeter, your voice pure and loud (sonorous),
You were radiant (lit. you radiated) like a sky brightened by the dawn.
You called to me, and I left the earth
To flee with you towards the light.
The skies parted their clouds slightly for us,
Unknown splendors, divine glows glimpsed.
Alas! Alas! Sad awakening of dreams,
I call upon you, oh night, give me your lies,
Return, return, radiant one,
Return, oh mysterious night.
Words I had to look up
- rayonner - to radiate
- éclairer - to brighten (I thought it meant to clear at first glance). TIL, "éclair" means a flash or lightning, and the pastry was named because you want to eat it in a flash.
- nue - poetic abbreviation of nuage (cloud). Homogram with the word for "nude".
- entrouvrir - to half-open or leave ajar
- lueur - glow or glimmers
- entrevoir - to glimpse (not to be confused with un entrevue which is an interview, a synonym of entretien, I think)
- songe - dream (literary)
As a side note, I never really thought about this but bonheur (happiness) is masculine and doesn't end in "e", but heure does end with an "e" and is feminine.
Assessment
This was a really terrific exercise! I have sung this mélodie many times, but after going over it word by word and really parsing out the grammar, I have a much better understanding of it, and I'm having a much easier time remembering the order of the lines. I'm definitely looking forward to doing this with more of my favorite songs and arias.
And what a terrific poem! It's not even the original; it's apparently a loose translation of an Italian poem.
Here's my favorite recording of it: