Ô mort, poussière d'étoiles
Language: French (Français)
Available translation(s): CAT DUT ENG GER
Ô mort, poussière d'étoiles,
Lève-toi sous mes pas !
Viens, ô douce vague qui brilles
Dans les ténèbres ;
Emporte-moi dans ton néant
Viens, souffle sombre où je vacille,
Comme une flamme ivre de vent !
C'est en toi que je veux m'étendre,
M'éteindre et me dissoudre,
Mort où mon âme aspire !
[ Dieu fort qu'elle attend
Avec des chants et des rires d'amour.]1
Viens, brise-moi comme une fleur d'écume,
Une fleur de soleil à la cime
Des eaux,
[ Que la nuit effeuille, que l'ombre efface,
Et que l'espace épanouit.]1
Et comme d'une amphore d'or
Un vin de flamme et d'arome divin,
Epanche mon âme
En ton abîme, pour qu'elle embaume
La terre sombre et le souffle des morts.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
1 not set by Fauré.
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Oh mort, pols d’estrelles", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Pieter van der Woel) , "O dood, nevel van de sterren", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Oh Death, dust of stars", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "O Tod, du Sternenstaub", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 22
Word count: 121
Oh Death, dust of stars
Language: English  after the French (Français)
Oh Death, dust of stars,
rise up under my footsteps!
Come, gentle wave shining
in the dark,
carry me off into your nothingness!
Come, sombre breeze in which I sway,
come like a flame intoxicated with wind!
In you I want to stretch out,
fade and dissolve,
oh death, my soul's aspiration!
[strong god whom my soul awaits
with songs and laughter of love]
Come, break me like a flower of foam,
a sun-bloom on the crest
of the waves!
[a flower plucked by the night, obscured by shadow
and scattered by space]
And like a wine of fire and divine scent
flowing from a golden amphora,
pour out my soul
into your abyss, so that it may perfume
the dark earth and the breath of the dead.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Peter Low, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 22
Word count: 129