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Three Songs of Rilke
Translations © by Grant Hicks
Song Cycle by Manuel Pedro Ferreira (b. 1959)
View original-language texts alone: Três Canções de Rilke
Ce soir mon cœur fait chanter des anges qui se souviennent... Une voix, presque mienne, par trop de silence tentée, monte et se décide à ne plus revenir ; tendre et intrépide, à quoi va-t-elle s'unir ?
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, no. 1
See other settings of this text.
Tonight my heart makes angels sing, who remember.... A voice, almost my own, tempted by too much silence, rises and decides never to return; tender and undaunted, with what will it unite?
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, no. 1
Go to the general single-text view
Translations of titles:
"Ce soir" = "Tonight"
"Ce soir mon cœur" = "Tonight My Heart"
"Ce soir mon cœur fait chanter" = "Tonight My Heart Makes Sing"
"Ce soir mon cœur fait chanter des anges" = "Tonight My Heart Makes Angels Sing"
"Mon coeur fait chanter des anges" = "My Heart Makes Angels Sing"
"souviennent" = "Remember"
This text was added to the website: 2025-08-29
Line count: 8
Word count: 32
Tout se passe à peu près comme si l'on reprochait à la pomme d'être bonne à manger. Mais il reste d'autres dangers. Celui de la laisser sur l'arbre, celui de la sculpter en marbre, et le dernier, le pire : de lui en vouloir d'être en cire.
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, no. 5
See other settings of this text.
Confirmed with Poèmes français. Vergers. Les Roses. Les Fenêtres. Carnet de Poche. Poèmes épars, Paris: Paul Hartmann, ed., 1935, page 11.
Everything happens more or less as if we were to reproach the apple for being good to eat. But there remain other dangers. That of leaving it on the tree, that of sculpting it in marble, and the last, and worst: wishing it to be made of wax.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, no. 5
Go to the general single-text view
Translations of titles:
"La pomme" = "The Apple"
"Tout se passe à peu près" = "Everything Happens More or Less"
This text was added to the website: 2025-08-30
Line count: 8
Word count: 48
Un cygne avance sur l'eau tout entouré de lui-même, comme un glissant tableau; ainsi à certains instants un être que l'on aime est tout un espace mouvant. Il se rapproche, doublé, comme ce cygne qui nage, sur notre âme troublée... qui à cet être ajoute la tremblante image de bonheur et de doute.
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, written 1924, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, no. 40
See other settings of this text.
A swan advances over the water all wrapped up in itself like a gliding tableau. Thus at certain moments a being that one loves seems just a moving space. He draws near, doubled like that swan who swims across our troubled soul, who adds to this being the trembling image of happiness and of doubt.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2001 by Grant Hicks, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, written 1924, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, no. 40
Go to the general single-text view
Translations of titles:
"Un cygne" = "A Swan"
"Un cygne avance sur l'eau" = "A swan advances over the water"
This text was added to the website: 2025-05-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 55