Your great soft eyes seem like islands

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by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Tes grands yeux doux semblent des îles

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT ENG ENG

Tes grands yeux doux semblent des îles 
Qui nagent dans un lac d'azur :
Sous la paix de tes yeux tranquilles,
Fais-moi tranquille et fais-moi pur.

Ton corps a l'adorable enfance 
Des clairs paradis de jadis :
Enveloppe-moi de silence,
De ton corps blanc comme les lys.

Je souffre, j'étouffe, je pleure :
Ô mon amour, fais de tes bras,
Pour que je m'y perde et j'y meure,
Un tombeau que tu m'ouvriras !

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• R. Baton • E. Chausson

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Confirmed with L'Illusion, Troisième édition, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1893, p. 14.

Text Authorship:

by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, "Sérénade mélancolique", appears in L'Illusion, in 1. Chants de l'Amour et de la Mort [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 75

Your great soft eyes seem like islands

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Language: English after the French (Français)

Your great soft eyes seem like islands
Swimming in a lake of azure:
Under the peace of your calm eyes,
Make me calm and make me pure.

Your body has the lovable youth
Of the bright paradises of yesteryear:
Envelop me with silence,
With your body pale as a lily.

I suffer, I suffocate, I weep;
O my love, make of your arms,
So that there I may lose myself and die,
A tomb that you open wide for me!

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Translations of titles:
"Sérénade" = "Serenade"
"Sérénade mélancolique" = "Melancholy Serenade"

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.
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Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, "Sérénade mélancolique", appears in L'Illusion, in 1. Chants de l'Amour et de la Mort
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This text was added to the website: 2025-08-30
Line count: 12
Word count: 84