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Épouse au front lumineux, Voici que le soir descend Et qu'il jette dans tes yeux Des rayons couleur de sang. Le crépuscule féerique T'environne d'un feu rose. Viens me chanter un cantique Beau comme une sombre rose Ou plutôt ne chante pas, Viens te coucher sur mon coeur Laisse?moi baiser tes bras Pâles comme l'aube en fleur; La nuit de tes yeux m'attire, Nuit frémissante, mystique Douce comme ton sourire Heureux et mélancolique. Et soudain la profondeur Du passé religieux, Le mystère et la grandeur De notre amour sérieux, S'ouvre au fond de nos pensées Comme une vallée immense Où des forêts délaissées Rêvent dans un grand silence.
Text Authorship:
- by Albert Jounet (1863 - 1923), "Cantique à l'épouse", written 1888, appears in Les lys noirs, in L'amour mystique, no. 2, the second part of the poem, first published 1888 [author's text not yet checked 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 Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855 - 1899), "Cantique à l'épouse", op. 36 no. 1 (1898), from Deux Mélodies, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Song to a wife", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Loblied an die Gemahlin", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 108
Meine Frau, wie du strahlst, nun, da die Abendsonne in deine Augen blutrote Strahlen senkt. Die zaubrische Dämmerung hüllt dich in rötlichen Schein. Komm, sing mir ein Lied, schön wie eine dunkle Rose; oder besser, singe nicht und komm an mein Herz, lasse mich deine Arme kosen, licht wie der neue Morgen. Das Dunkel deiner Augen nimmt mich in Bann, ein irisierend geheimnisvolles Dunkel, sanftmütig wie dein Lächeln, voller Glück und Melancholie. Und unvermittelt eröffnet sich der Grund der geheiligten Vergangenheit, das Geheimnis und die Größe unserer innigen Liebe in der Tiefe unseres Innersten wie ein weites Tal, wo verlassene Wälder in tiefem Schweigen träumen.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2017 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 Albert Jounet (1863 - 1923), "Cantique à l'épouse", written 1888, appears in Les lys noirs, in L'amour mystique, no. 2, the second part of the poem, first published 1888
This text was added to the website: 2017-06-07
Line count: 24
Word count: 105