Sir Colin Davis has been heard to say this is his favourite Berlioz work:
Sara la Baigneuse
text by Victor Hugo
Sara takes A Dip by Henri Fantin Letour
~
Sara, fair and at ease,
Sways
In a hammock above
The pool of a fountain
Brimming
With water from the Ilyssus. Ah!
~
And the frail swing
Is reflected
In the clear mirror
With the pale maiden
Leaning to see her image
Each time the hammock,
Swinging,
Skims the water in its flight,
There appears on the trembling water,
Rising quickly,
Her lovely foot and graceful neck.
~
She touches with her foot, timidly,
The water,
Rippling the clear image:
The white marble of her lovely foot reddens;
Playfully
She laughs at the chill of the water.
~
Stay hidden here! Wait!
In time
Your eager gaze will see
The maiden step from the water
Naked
Her arms crossed on her breast,
For it is like a shining star,
A maiden
Stepping from the clear water,
Watching to see that no one is coming,
And shivering
Fresh from the water in the open air.
~
But, Sara, nonchalantly,
Takes time
To end her gentle frolicking.
She swings
Silently
Then murmurs low:
Oh! If I were a consort
Of pasha or sultan,
I should bathe in amber-scented water
In a bath of yellow marble.
Near a throne
Between two gilded griffins
I should have a silken hammock
Yielding
To the swooning form,
I should have a soft couch
Giving off
The perfume of desire.
I could play naked
Under the open sky,
In the stream in the garden
Without fearing to see in the shadow
Of the dark wood
A pair of eyes suddenly aflame.
Then I could, with no one to hurry on
My idleness,
Leave with my garments
Trailing on the wide flagstones
My sandals
Of material embroidered with rubies.
Ah! So she muses like a princess,
And without cease
Sways amorously,
Laughing maiden
Forgetful
Ot time's swift passing.
And meanwhile from the fields
Other maidens
Make their way,
Their gay band appears
And passes
Hand linking hand.
Each one singing in her turn,
As she goes by, threads
A reproach into her song:
Oh! the lazy girl.
See her dressing
At this late hour on a harvest day!
