lyrics O Magali - Traditional song from County of Nice

D’argent à une aigle de gueules, au vol abaissé, membrée, becquée et couronnée d’or, empiétant une montagne de trois coupeaux de sable issant d’une mer d’azur mouvant de la pointe et ondée d’argent.


	Traditional music from County of Nice (France)


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O Magali
Lyrics by Frédéric Mistral, music by traditional from Provence.

This traditional Provençal song was re-used by Charles Gounod in act II of the opera Mireille for the Chanson de Magali (Magali’s song).

The French lyrics correspond to the literal translation by Frédéric Mistral from the version in Provençal.

1^st verse
— O Magali ma tant amado Mete la tèsto au fenestroun ! Escouto un pau aquesto aubado De tambourin e de vióuloun. Ei plen d’estello, aperamount ! L’auro es toumbado, Mai lis estello paliran Quand te veiran !		— O! Magali, my so loved, Put your head out of the window ⁽¹⁾! Listen a little this dawn serenade Of tambourins and violins. (The sky) is in heaven above full of stars! The wind has died down, But stars will turn pale When seeing you!
2^nd verse
— Pas mai que dóu murmur di broundo, De toun aubado iéu fau cas ! Mai iéu m’en vau dins la mar bloundo Me faire anguielo de roucas. — O Magali, se tu te fas Lou pèis de l’oundo, Iéu, lou pescaire me farai, Te pescarai !		— No more than murmur of boughs, To your serenade I attach importance! But me, I’m going in golden sea Make me rock eel. — O! Magali, if you make you The fish of the waters, Me, the fisherman I’ll make me, I’ll catch you!
3^rd verse
— Oh ! mai, se tu te fas pescaire, Ti vertoulet quand jitaras, Iéu me farai l’aucèu voulaire, M’envoularai dins li campas. — O Magali, se tu te fas L’aucèu de l’aire, Iéu lou cassaire me farai, Te cassarai.		— Oh! but, if you make you fisherman, Your hoop nets when you will throw, Me, I’ll make me the bird flying, I’ll fly away in the moors. — O! Magali, if you make you The bird in the air, Me, the hunter I’ll make me, I’ll hunt you!
4^th verse
— I perdigau, i bouscarido, Se vènes, tu, cala ti las, Iéu me farai l’erbo flourido E m’escoundrai dins li pradas. — O Magali, se tu te fas La margarido, Iéu l’aigo lindo me farai T’arrousarai.		— For young partridges, for warblers, If you come, you, and set your snares, Me, I’ll make me the grass in flower And I’ll hide in the large meadows. — O! Magali, if you make you The daisy, Me, the limpid water I’ll make me, I’ll water you.
5^th verse
— Se tu te fas l’aigueto lindo, Iéu me farai lou nivoulas E lèu m’enanarai ansindo A l’Americo, perabas ! — O Magali, se tu t’en vas Alin is Indo, L’auro de mar iéu me farai, Te pourtarai !		— If you make you the limpid waters, Me, I’ll make me the large cloud And swiftly I’ll go in this way To America, over! — O! Magali, if you go To faraway Indies, The sea breeze, me, I’ll make me, I’ll carry you!
6^th verse
— Se tu te fas la marinado, Iéu fugirai d’un autre las : Iéu me farai l’escandihado Dóu grand soulèu que found lou glas ! — O Magali, se tu te fas La souleiado, Lou verd limbert iéu me farai E te béurai !		— If you make you the sea breeze, Me, I’ll run away to another side: Me, I’ll make me the sunny spell Of the great sun that melts ice! — O! Magali, if you make you The sunshine, The green lizard, me, I’ll make me And I’ll drink you!
7^th verse
— Se tu te rèndes l’alabreno Que se rescound dins lou bartas, Iéu me rendrai la luno pleno Que dins la niue fai lume i masc ! — O Magali, se tu te fas Luno sereno, Iéu bello nèblo me farai, T’acatarai.		— If you become the salamander That hides in the thicket, Me, I’ll become the full moon That, in the night, lights the sorcerers! — O! Magali, if you make you Serene moon, Me, beautiful mist I’ll make me, I’ll wrap you.
8^th verse
— Mai se la nèblo m’enmantello, Tu, pèr acò, noun me tendras ; Iéu, bello roso vierginello, M’espandirai dins l’espinas ! — O Magali, se tu te fas La roso bello, Lou parpaioun iéu me farai, Te beisarai.		— But if mist surrounds me, You, for that, you will not hold me; Me, beautiful virginal rose, I’ll spread out in the bush! — O! Magali, if you make you The beautiful rose, The butterfly, me, I’ll make me I’ll kiss you ⁽²⁾.
9^th verse
— Vai, calignaire, courre, courre ! Jamai, jamai m’agantaras. Iéu, de la rusco d’un grand roure Me vestirai dins lou bouscas. — O Magali, se tu te fas L’aubre di moure, Iéu lou clot d’èurre me farai, T’embrassarai !		— Go on! lover, run, run! Never, never you will catch me. Me, with the bark of a great oak I’ll dress me in the forest. — O! Magali, if you make you The tree of the hill, Me, the tuft of ivy I’ll make me, I’ll embrace you ⁽³⁾!
10^th verse
— Se me vos prene à la brasseto, Rèn qu’un vièi chaine arraparas... Iéu me farai blanco moungeto Dóu mounastié dóu grand sant Blas ! — O Magali, se tu te fas Mounjo blanqueto, Iéu, capelan, counfessarai E t’ausirai !		— If you want to take me bodily, You will seize only an old oak... Me, I’ll become a little white nun In great Saint Blaise’s monastery ⁽⁴⁾! — O! Magali, if you make you White nun, Me, priest, I’ll confess And I’ll listen you!
11^th verse
— Se dóu couvènt passes li porto, Tóuti li mounjo trouvaras Qu’à moun entour saran pèr orto, Car en susàri me veiras ! — O Magali, se tu te fas La pauro morto, Adounc la terro me farai, Aqui t’aurai !		— If of the convent you pass the doors, All the nuns you will find That around me will be as enclosure, Because in shroud you will see me! — O! Magali, if you make you The poor dead woman, Therefore the soil I’ll make me, There I’ll get you!
12^th verse
— Aro coumence enfin de crèire Que noun me parles en risènt : Vaqui moun aneloun de vèire Pèr souvenènço, o bèu jouvènt ! — O Magali me fas de bèn ! Mai, tre te vèire, Ve lis estello, o Magali, Coume an pali !		— Now I commence at last to believe That you don’t talk me laughing: Here is my small glass-ring In remembrance, handsome young man! — O! Magali, you do me good! But, as soon as they saw you, See the stars, o! Magali, How they have grown dim!

1. The lover or the womanizer asking his belle to put her head out of the window and listen a dawn serenade is a recurrent theme. Here is how don Juan expresses himself in Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, aria “Deh vieni alla finestra...”:
Deh vieni alla finestra, o mio tesoro | Deh vieni a consolar il pianto mio. | Se neghi a me di dar qualche ristoro, | Davanti agli occhi tuoi morir vogl’io!...
Ah, come at the window, o! my treasure | Ah, come and console my tears. | If you deny me some relief, | Before your eyes I want to die!...

2. The French verb for to kiss has nowadays a literally vulgar sense. The Nissart baià means nothing else “to give a kiss”. Cf. baiser.

3. Literally “to take in one’s arms”. Cf. embrasser.

4. In Arles city.

Bibliography
•	Mistral Frédéric, Mirèio, pouèmo prouvençau (Mireille, poème provençal), Paris, Charpentier libraire-éditeur, 2^e édition, 1859, p. 116-127;
•	Tiersot Julien, Histoire de la chanson populaire en France, Paris, 1889, p. 108-109.