Bilitis | In weiße Wolle hüllt die Eine sich

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

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Bilitis

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG GER

Une femme s'enveloppe de laine blanche. 
Une autre se vêt de soie et d'or. 
Une autre se couvre de fleurs, 
de feuilles vertes et de raisins.

Moi, je ne saurais vivre que nue. 
Mon amant, prends-moi comme je suis: 
sans robe ni bijoux ni sandales, 
voici Bilitis toute seule.

Mes cheveux sont noirs de leur noir 
et mes lèvres rouges de leur rouge. 
Mes boucles flottent autour de moi libres 
et rondes comme des plumes.

Prends-moi telle que ma mère m'a faite 
dans une nuit d'amour lointaine, 
et si je te plais ainsi, 
n'oublie pas de me le dire.

Text Authorship:

by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Bilitis", appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Bucoliques en Pamphylie, no. 38 [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 Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "Bilitis", L. 102/(96) no. 6, from Chansons de Bilitis, no. 6, note: incidental music to accompany the recitation of twelve prose poems. [sung text checked 1 time]
by Alina Piechowska-Pascal (b. 1937), "Bilitis", published 1977 [ high voice and piano ], from Chants de Bilitis, no. 4, Paris, Éd. Choudens [sung text not yet checked]
by Aimée Strohl (1865 - 1941), "Bilitis", published 1900 [ high voice and piano ], from Bilitis, Poème en 12 chants, no. 9, Paris, Éd. Toledo & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Marvin J. Ward) , "Bilitis", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Bilitis", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Marvin J. Ward

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 99

Bilitis

Language: German (Deutsch) after the French (Français)

In weiße Wolle hüllt die Eine sich.  
Die Andere in Seide, Gold.               
Mit Blumen eine Dritte sich behängt,
mit Blättern grün und schwerem Wein. 

Ich kann indes nicht leben denn enthüllt. 
Geliebter, nimm mich, wie ich bin:  
Ganz ohn' Gewand, ohn' Schmuck, ohn' Schuh,
nichts anderes als Bilitis allein. 

Schwarz ist mein Haar aus seinem Schwarz,
die Lippen leuchten rot aus ihrem Rot. 
Und meiner Locken Pracht umfließt mich frei,
umhüllt mich ganz, wie Federn leicht. 

Nimm mich, wie meine Mutter mich einst schuf 
in einer fernen Liebesnacht,
und schenk' ich dir die gleiche Lust,
vergiss dies nicht, und sag es, sag es mir.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2013 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
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Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Bilitis", appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Bucoliques en Pamphylie, no. 38
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2013-03-06
Line count: 16
Word count: 104