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by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs

Le sommeil interrompu
Language: French (Français) 
Toute seule je m’étais endormie, 
comme une perdrix dans la bruyère… 
Le vent léger, le bruit des eaux, 
la douceur de la nuit m’avaient retenue là.

Je me suis endormie, imprudente, 
et je me suis réveillée en criant, 
et j’ai lutté, et j’ai pleuré ; 
mais déjà il était trop tard. 
Et que peuvent les mains d’une enfant ?

Il ne me quitta pas. Au contraire, 
plus tendrement dans ses bras, 
il me serra contre lui et je ne vis plus 
au monde ni la terre ni les arbres 
mais seulement la lueur de ses yeux…

À toi, Kypris victorieuse, je consacre 
ces offrandes encore mouillées de rosée, 
vestiges des douleurs de la vierge, 
témoins de mon sommeil et de ma résistance.

Confirmed with Œuvres complètes de Pierre Louÿs, 1929 - 1931, tome 2 (1894 (Chansons de Bilitis)), Paris, Slatkine reprints, 1973, page 52.

Note: this is a prose text. The line breaks are arbitrary.


Text Authorship:

  • by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Le sommeil interrompu", written 1897, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Bucoliques en Pamphylie, no. 35, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Georges Dandelot (1895 - 1975), "Le sommeil interrompu", 1924, published 1929, first performed 1929 [ high voice and piano ], from Six Chansons de Bilitis, 1er recueil, no. 3, Paris, Éd. Max Eschig [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Aimée Strohl (1865 - 1941), "Le sommeil interrompu", published 1900 [ high voice and piano ], from Bilitis, Poème en 12 chants, no. 8, Paris, Éd. Toledo & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2019-04-09
Line count: 18
Word count: 120

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