Dans le bain, sur [les dalles]1,
À mon pied négligent
J'aime à voir des sandales
De cuir jaune et d'argent.
En quittant ma baignoire,
Il me plaît qu'une noire
Fasse mordre à l'ivoire
Mes cheveux, manteau brun,
Et, versant l'eau de rose
Sur mon sein qu'elle arrose,
Comme l'aube et la rose,
[Mêle]2 perle et parfum.

J'aime aussi l'odeur fine
De la fleur des Houris,
Sur un plat de la Chine
[Des]3 sorbets d'ambre gris,
L'opium, ciel liquide,
Poison doux et perfide,
[Qui remplit l'âme]4 vide
D'un bonheur étoilé ;
Et, sur l'eau qui réplique,
Un doux bruit de musique
S'échappant d'un caïque
De falots constellé.

J'aime un fez écarlate
De sequins [bruissant]5,
Où partout l'or éclate,
Où reluit le croissant.
L'arbre en fleur où se pose
L'oiseau cher à la rose,
La fontaine où l'eau cause,
Tout me plaît tour à tour ;
Mais, au ciel et sur terre,
Le trésor que préfère
Mon cœur jeune et sincère,
C'est amour pour amour !

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
Note: the Pedrell score begins "Dans la [sic] bain"
¹ David: "la dalle"
² David: "Mèlent"
³ David: "Les"
⁴ David: "Remplissant le cœur"
⁵ David: "frémissant"

Text Authorship:

• by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier (1811 - 1872), "Ghazel", written 1845, appears in Poésies diverses, poésies nouvelles et inédites, poésies posthumes, in Poésies diverses 1838-1845 [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 Gabrielle Darcier , "Ghazel", published 1865 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, E. Heu [sung text not yet checked]
• by Félicien César David (1810 - 1876), "Amour pour amour", 1845, published 1846 [ medium voice and piano ], from Les perles d'Orient, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Émile Durand (1830 - 1903), "Ghazel", subtitle: "Orientale", published 1874 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Maison G. Flaxland, Schoenewerk & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
• by Napoléon Joseph Ney, prince de la Moskowa (1803 - 1857), "Dans le bain" [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph O'Kelly (1828 - 1885), "Ghazel", published 1884 [ medium voice and piano ], from Six mélodies sur des poèmes de T. Gautier, A. Erhard, A. Lambert, L. Tiercelin, no. 4, Paris, Éditions "Au Ménestrel" Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Felipe Pedrell (1841 - 1922), "Ghazel", published 1877 [ high voice and piano ], from Consolations - 12 Mélodies sur des poésies de Théophile Gautier, no. 6, Milan: Francesco Lucca [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Jules Regnaud , "Ghazel", op. 2 no. 1, published 1865 [ voice and piano ], from Deux mélodies de Théophile Gautier, no. 1, Paris, Flayland [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jules Ten-Brink (1838 - 1889), "Ghazel - Valse", published 1868 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, A. Magnus [sung text not yet checked]

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

• ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 36
Word count: 168

In the bathhouse, on the [tiles]1,
I like to see sandals
on my carefree feet,
leather ones, yellow or silver.
When I rise from my bath
I like it when a black woman
attaches with ivory clips
my hair, a brown mantle,
and, pouring rose-water
onto my breasts,
like morning dew on roses,
[mingles pearls and perfumes]2.

I also like the fine smell
of the flowers of the Houris,
and on a China plate
sherbets of gray amber,
and opium, that liquid heaven,
that sweet and treacherous poison,
[which fills the empty soul]3
with a star-spangled bliss,
and on the mirror-like water 
a soft noise of music
coming from a light barge
lit by many lanterns.

I like a scarlet fire
of cloth with [rustling]4 sequins
where gold glistens everywhere,
and the crescent moon shines.
The blossoming tree visited by
the bird that the roses love,
the spring where the water chatters -
they all please me one after another.
But in heaven and on earth
the treasure most dear
to my young and sincere heart
is love for love's sake!