Gabriel Urbain Fauré 

 (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher.

He was considered one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers.

Although his best-known and most accessible compositions are generally his earlier ones, Fauré composed many of his most highly regarded works in his later years, in a more harmonically and melodically complex style.

Renée de Brimont (1880 – 1943) born Renée Bonnin de La Bonninière de Beaumont, was a French writer and poet. She was an expert in French literature of the 19th century and contributed to the Revue des Deux Mondes and chaired the Society Les Cent une.

The poem Cygne sur l’eau, written by Renée de Brimont, was first published in 1919 as a part of Fauré's song cycle Mirages.

Text

Cygne sur l’eau.

Ma pensée est un cygne harmonieux et sage

Qui glisse lentement aux rivages d’ennui
Sur les ondes sans fond du rêve, du mirage
De l’écho, du brouillard, de l’ombre, de la nuit

Il glisse, roi hautain fendant un libre espace
Poursuit un reflet vain, précieux et changeant
Et les roseaux nombreux s’inclinent lorsqu’il passe
Sombre et muet, au seuil d’une lune d’argent;

Et des blancs nénuphars chaque corolle ronde
Tour à tour a fleuri de désir ou d’espoir…
Mais plus avant toujours, sur la brume et sur l’onde
Vers l’inconnu fuyant glisse le cygne noir

Or j’ai dit : « Renoncez, beau cygne chimérique
À ce voyage lent vers de troubles destins;
Nul miracle chinois, nulle étrange Amérique
Ne vous accueilleront en des havres certains;

Les golfes embaumés, les îles immortelles
Ont pour vous, cygne noir, des récifs périlleux;
Demeurez sur les lacs où se mirent, fidèles
Ces nuages, ces fleurs, ces astres et ces yeux



English translation

A swan on the water

My thought is a harmonious and wise swan, 

gliding slowly to the shores of boredom
On the bottomless waves of dreams, of mirages,
Of echoes, of fog, of shadows, of the night.



He glides, a haughty king cleaving a free space,
In pursuit of a vain, precious, and changing reflection
And the numerous reeds bend as he passes
Dark and silent, on the threshold of a silver moon;

And each round corolla of white water lilies
In turn bloomed with desire or hope…
But ever further, over the mist and over the wave
Toward the fleeing unknown glides the black swan

Now I said: Give up, beautiful chimerical swan
This slow journey towards troubled destinies;
No Chinese miracle, no strange America
Will welcome you into safe havens;

The fragrant gulfs, the immortal islands
Have perilous reefs for you, black swan;
Remain on the lakes where
these clouds, 
these flowers, these stars and these eyes are reflected.

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) pronunciation of the French poem.

sˈiɲ sˈyʁ ˈɛl'ˈo

mˈa- pɑ̃sˈe ˈɛ ˈœ̃ sˈiɲ aʁmonjˈø ˈe sˈaʒ

kˈi ɡlˈis lɑ̃tmˈɑ̃ ˈo ʁivˈaʒ dˈe’ɑ̃nyˈi
sˈyʁ lˈe- ˈɔ̃d sˈɑ̃ fˈɔ̃ dˈy- ʁˈɛv, dˈy- miʁˈaʒ
dˈə- ˈɛl’ekˈo, dˈy- bʁujˈaʁ, dˈə- ˈɛl’ˈɔ̃bʁ, 
dˈə- lˈa- nyˈi



'il ɡlˈis, ʁwˈa otˈɛ̃ fɑ̃dˈɑ̃ ˈœ̃ lˈibʁ ɛspˈas
puʁsyˈi ˈœ̃ ʁəflˈɛ vˈɛ̃, pʁesjˈø ˈe ʃɑ̃ʒˈɑ̃
ˈe lˈe- ʁozˈo nɔ̃bʁˈø ˈɛs’ɛ̃klˈin lˈɔʁsk’ˈil pˈas
sˈɔ̃bʁ ˈe myˈɛ, ˈo sˈœj dˈe’ˈyn lˈyn dˈe’aʁʒˈɑ̃;


ˈ

e dˈe- blˈɑ̃ nenyfˈaʁ ʃˈak koʁˈɔl ʁˈɔ̃d
tˈuʁ ˌaaksɑ̃ɡʁˈav tˈuʁ ˈa fløʁˈi dˈə- dezˈiʁ ˈu dˈe’ɛspwˈaʁ…
mˈɛ plˈy avˈɑ̃ tuʒˈuʁ, sˈyʁ lˈa- bʁˈym ˈe sˈyʁ ˈɛl’ˈɔ̃d
vˈɛʁ ˈɛl’ɛ̃kɔnˈy fyijˈɑ̃ ɡlˈis lˈə- sˈiɲ nwˈaʁ



ˈɔʁ ʒˈi’ˈe dˈi : « ʁənɔ̃sˈe, bˈo sˈiɲ ʃimeʁˈik
ˌaaksɑ̃ɡʁˈav sˈə- vwajˈaʒ lˈɑ̃ vˈɛʁ dˈə- tʁˈubl dɛstˈɛ̃;
nˈyl miʁˈakl ʃinwˈa, nˈyl etʁˈɑ̃ʒ ameʁˈik
nˈə- vˈu akœjʁˈɔ̃ ˈɑ̃ dˈe- ˈavʁ sɛʁtˈɛ̃;




lˈe- ɡˈɔlf ɑ̃bomˈe, lˈe- ˈil imɔʁtˈɛl
ˈɔ̃ pˈuʁ vˈu, sˈiɲ nwˈaʁ, dˈe- ʁesˈif peʁijˈø;
dəmœʁˈe sˈyʁ lˈe- lˈak ˈu sˈə- mˈiʁ, fidˈɛl
sˈe nyˈaʒ, sˈe flˈœʁ, sˈe ˈastʁ ˈe sˈe jˈø