The climax of the uprising is near and this is Éponine’s “swan song” as she lays dying on the barricade in Marius’ arms. Éponine is a daughter of the rapacious innkeepers Thénardier. She grew up as a spoiled child until they lost their inn and descended into petty thievery. They moved to Paris and she became a street urchin and joined their mischief. She also became infatuated with Marius who lived next door but was of higher social standing and cared little for her. She had been jealous of Cosette even when they lived together as children in the Thénardier’s inn but now she loves Marius while Marius loves Cosette. Éponine’s jealousy makes her duplicitous in her role as a courier for messages between them.
Cosette lived with the Thénardiers while her mother Fantine worked her fingers to the bone, and they treated her like a servant. Following Fantine’s death from consumption, Jean Valjean “bought” Cosette from the Thénardiers and she flourished with his protection. With the revolution mounting and Javert on his tail, however, Valjean decides to flee with Cosette to England. Cosette gave Éponine a letter for Marius that tells her new address in England.
Instead, Éponine kept the letter and encouraged Marius to join the barricades so they could be/die together. She dressed like a boy so she could accompany him to the fight. At a critical moment she saved his life by stepping into the path of a bullet.
“Ce n’est rien” (It’s Nothing), Paris 1980
Éponine and Marius
“Ce n’est rien” opened Act 3 in Paris. In a blend of agency and sacrifice Éponine stopped a bullet intended for Marius and chose to die in his arms rather than go on living without him. Although Éponine had concealed Cosette’s letter to Marius telling her new address in England, she relents and gives it to him before she dies. She knows she is bleeding and will die and that Marius and Cosette will marry soon. She tries to put Marius at ease by saying "ce n'est rien" ("It is nothing"). She is rather clinical about her last moments, referring (4 times) to her weeping blood as the final expression of rain with the color of death from a heart than never served anyone.
The song has stanzas of various length that nevertheless maintain a varied rhyme sequence, with special emphasis on “uie” sounds: “pluie,” “vie,” “nuit,” “servi,” “reunir.”
For persons with further interest, Éponine's farewell monologue from Victor Hugo's book is included at the very bottom of this page. It sheds interesting light on the nature of the relationship between Éponine and Marius in Hugo's tale.
For persons with further interest, Éponine's farewell monologue from Victor Hugo's book is included at the very bottom of this page. It sheds interesting light on the nature of the relationship between Éponine and Marius in Hugo's tale.
Marianne Mille had the role of Éponine in the 1980 Paris show and Gilles Buhlmann played Marius.
|
Original French Éponine Ce n’est rien, Monsieur Marius Qu’un peu de sang qui pleure Dernier chagrin de pluie Aux couleurs de la mort Qui siffle en rafales au dehors Dernier chagrin de pluie Dernier élan de vie D’un coeur qui n’a servi à personne Marius Mais tu vas vivre, Ponine, regarde-moi L’amour saura refermer ta blessure Éponine Même l’amour ne peut rien pour moi Prenez-moi dans vos bras Éponine & Marius Ce n’est rien, non ce n’est rien Qu’un peu de sang qui pleure Dernier chagrin de pluie Aux couleurs de la nuit Qui va bientôt enfin nous reunir Dernier chagrin de pluie Dernier élan de vie D’un coeur qui n’a servi à personne Éponine Ce n’est que moi qui pars, vous restez là Et comme à la noce, je serai absente Voilà sa lettre, c’est mon cadeau Quelques mois à l’avance Ce n’est rien, non ce n’est rien Q’un peu de sang qui pleure Dernier chagrin de pluie Aux couleurs de la nuit Qui va bientôt enfin nous reunir Dernier chagrin de pluie (Marius: Elle n’a vécu que pour les autres) Dernier élan de vie (Marius: L’amour qu’elle n’a pas eu, elle me l’offre) D’un coeur qui n’a servi à personne |
Translation Éponine It’s nothing, Monsieur Marius Only a bit of blood that weeps Last sorrow of rain In colors of death That whistles in gusts outside Last sorrow of rain Last burst of life Of a heart that never served anyone Marius But you will live, ‘Ponine, look at me. Love will know how to close your wound Éponine Even love can do nothing for me Take me in your arms. Éponine & Marius It’s nothing, no, it’s nothing, Only a bit of blood that weeps Last sorrow of rain In colors of the night Which will soon reunite us at last Last sorrow of rain Last burst of life Of a heart that never served anyone Éponine It’s only me who leaves, you stay here. And as for the wedding, I’ll be gone. Here’s her letter, it’s my present A few months in advance It’s nothing, no it’s nothing Only a bit of blood that weeps Last sorrow of rain In colors of the night Which will soon reunite us at last Last sorrow of rain (Marius: She only lived for others) Last burst of life (Marius: The love she didn’t have, she offers me) Of a heart that never served anyone |
Adaptation: A Little Fall of Rain, London 1985
This song experiences a lyric and name transformation from "Ce n'est rien" ("It's nothing") at Paris in 1980. It becomes “A Little Fall of Rain” for the 1985 English version in London. The new title and lyric suggest poetic evasion by lyricist Herb Kretzmer and perhaps by Éponine as well. She may have believed that a little pretense served her immediate needs best, given her desperate situation. All she cared about was being with Marius. So, in this version, she avoids the distractions of Cosette’s letter to Marius, their upcoming wedding or Cosette’s move to England, and the fact that she is dying. A little rain can hardly hurt her now. A side-by-side comparison of the original French lyrics, English translation, and Herbert Kretzmer's adaptation is available here.
As she dies in Marius’ arms, with blood streaming from a wound, Éponine claims it is rain. Whether she is hallucinating or intentionally dissembling is unclear. She adds a measure of hope that the rain will "wash away my past" and "make the flowers grow” after the revolution succeeds. This nice metaphor was absent from Paris 1980 as well as from Victor Hugo's book. In both, Éponine clearly knew it was blood and that she was dying without illusions about rain or flowers. In reality, the blood drains her body of life and spills in vain since the revolutionaries soon die or scatter, one by one. Éponine dies and Marius fulfills her last wish to "keep me close" to the end. He gets shot but Valjean rescues him and carries him through the sewers of Paris to safety and to Cosette.
Michael Ball played Marius in the original London cast and Lea Salonga is Éponine.
|
Section One
Éponine Don't you fret, M'sieur Marius I don't feel any pain A little fall of rain Can hardly hurt me now You're here, that's all I need to know And you will keep me safe And you will keep me close And rain will make the flowers grow Marius But you will live, 'Ponine - dear God above If I could heal your wounds with words of love Éponine Just hold me now, and let it be Shelter me, comfort me Marius You would live a hundred years If I could show you how I won’t desert you now… Éponine The rain can't hurt me now This rain will wash away my past And you will keep me safe And you will keep me close I'll sleep in your embrace at last. The rain that brings you here Is Heaven-blessed! The skies begin to clear And I'm at rest A breath away from where you are I've come home from so far |
Section Two
Éponine & Marius So don't you fret, M'sieur Marius I don't feel any pain A little fall of rain Can hardly hurt me now That's all I need to know And you will keep me safe And you will keep me close Éponine And rain Marius And rain Éponine Will make the flowers Marius Will make the flowers… grow |
I'll sleep in your embrace at last: This comforting line was apparently excluded in one of the later versions of the production.
"Éponine's Death" from the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
"You do not know me? Eponine… I am dying. My hand, it is pierced, by a ball. Did you see that
musket aimed at you? The hand that stopped it, that was mine. The ball passed through my hand, but
it went out through my back. It is useless to take me from here. I will tell you how you can care for me,
better then a surgeon. Sit down by me on that stone."
"Oh! How good it is! How kind he is! That is it! I don't suffer any more! Do you know, Monsieur? It
worried me that you should go into her garden, it was silly, since it was I who had shown you her
house, and then indeed I ought surely to have known that a young man like you-You thought me ugly,
didn't you? See, you are lost! Nobody will get out of the barricade, now. It is I who led you to this, it
was! You are going to die, I am sure. And still when I saw him aiming at you, I put up my hand upon
the muzzle of the musket. How droll it is! But it was because I wanted to die before you. When I got
this ball, I dragged myself here, nobody saw me, nobody picked me up. I waited for you, I said: He
will not come then? Oh! If you knew, I bit my blouse, I suffered so much. Now I am well. Do you
remember the day when I came to your room, and when I looked at myself in the mirror, and the day I
met you in the boulevard near some work-woman? How the birds sang! It was not very long ago. You
gave me a hundred sous, and I said to you: I don't want your money. Did you pick up your coin? You
are not rich; I didn't think to tell you to pick it up. The sun shone bright, I was not cold. Do you
remember, Monsieur? Oh! I am happy! We are all going to die. Oh! It is coming back! I am stifling!"
(raises herself up)
"It is he! My brother is here. He must not see me. He would scold me. That little boy, the one who is
singing, he is my brother. Oh! Don't go away! It won't be long now! Listen, I don't want to deceive you.
I have a letter in my pocket for you. Since yesterday. I was told to put it in the post. I kept it. I didn't
want it to reach you. But you would not like it of me perhaps when we meet again so soon. We do
meet again, don't we? Take your letter. Take it." "Now, for my pains, promise me---Promise me!
Promise to kiss me on the forehead when I am dead, for I shall feel it.
" And then, do you know, Monsieur, I believe I was a little in love with you."
"You do not know me? Eponine… I am dying. My hand, it is pierced, by a ball. Did you see that
musket aimed at you? The hand that stopped it, that was mine. The ball passed through my hand, but
it went out through my back. It is useless to take me from here. I will tell you how you can care for me,
better then a surgeon. Sit down by me on that stone."
"Oh! How good it is! How kind he is! That is it! I don't suffer any more! Do you know, Monsieur? It
worried me that you should go into her garden, it was silly, since it was I who had shown you her
house, and then indeed I ought surely to have known that a young man like you-You thought me ugly,
didn't you? See, you are lost! Nobody will get out of the barricade, now. It is I who led you to this, it
was! You are going to die, I am sure. And still when I saw him aiming at you, I put up my hand upon
the muzzle of the musket. How droll it is! But it was because I wanted to die before you. When I got
this ball, I dragged myself here, nobody saw me, nobody picked me up. I waited for you, I said: He
will not come then? Oh! If you knew, I bit my blouse, I suffered so much. Now I am well. Do you
remember the day when I came to your room, and when I looked at myself in the mirror, and the day I
met you in the boulevard near some work-woman? How the birds sang! It was not very long ago. You
gave me a hundred sous, and I said to you: I don't want your money. Did you pick up your coin? You
are not rich; I didn't think to tell you to pick it up. The sun shone bright, I was not cold. Do you
remember, Monsieur? Oh! I am happy! We are all going to die. Oh! It is coming back! I am stifling!"
(raises herself up)
"It is he! My brother is here. He must not see me. He would scold me. That little boy, the one who is
singing, he is my brother. Oh! Don't go away! It won't be long now! Listen, I don't want to deceive you.
I have a letter in my pocket for you. Since yesterday. I was told to put it in the post. I kept it. I didn't
want it to reach you. But you would not like it of me perhaps when we meet again so soon. We do
meet again, don't we? Take your letter. Take it." "Now, for my pains, promise me---Promise me!
Promise to kiss me on the forehead when I am dead, for I shall feel it.
" And then, do you know, Monsieur, I believe I was a little in love with you."
Return to "Les Misérables" Page