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Bleus [ou]1 noirs, tous aimés, tous beaux, Des yeux sans nombre ont vu l'aurore ; Ils dorment au fond des tombeaux, Et le soleil se lève encore. Les nuits, plus douces que les jours, Ont enchanté des yeux sans nombre ; Les étoiles brillent toujours, Et les yeux se sont remplis d'ombre. Oh ! qu'ils aient perdu le regard, Non, non, cela n'est pas possible ! Ils se sont tournés quelque part Vers ce qu'on nomme l'invisible ; Et comme les astres penchants Nous quittent, mais au ciel demeurent, Les prunelles ont leurs couchants, Mais il n'est pas vrai qu'elles meurent. Bleus ou noirs, tous aimés, tous beaux, Ouverts à quelque immense aurore, De l'autre côté des tombeaux Les yeux qu'on ferme voient encore.
1 Aubert: "et"; further changes may exist not shown above.
Text Authorship:
- by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), "Les Yeux", appears in Stances et Poèmes, in 1. Stances, in La Vie intérieure, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1866 [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 Louis Aubert (1877 - 1968), "Les Yeux", 1900, published 1909 [ medium voice and piano ], from Douze Chants, no. 7, Paris, Édition Durand [sung text not yet checked]
- by René-Félix Brancour (1862 - 1948), "Les Yeux", op. 69, published 1914 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Germain Desbonnet (1938 - 2007), "Les Yeux", 1985?, published 1985 [ high voice and piano ], from Mélodies, no. 13, Éd. du compositeur [sung text not yet checked]
- by Octave Fouque (1844 - 1883), "Les Yeux", published [1879] [ medium voice and piano ], from Dix mélodies pour chant, no. 7, Paris, Éd. G. Hartmann [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edmond Missa (1861 - 1910), "Les Yeux", published 1909 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. L. Grus et Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Émile Paladilhe (1844 - 1926), "Les Yeux", 1887 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Émile Pessard (1843 - 1917), "Les Yeux" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Eyes", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2013-12-10
Line count: 20
Word count: 120
Blue or black, all loved, all beautiful, numberless eyes have seen the dawn; they sleep now deep in graveyards, and the sun rises again. The nights, sweeter than the days, have enchanted innumerable eyes; the stars still shine, and the eyes are filled with shadow. Oh, that they can no longer gaze, no, no, that is not possible! They have turned in another direction towards what we call the invisible; and just as the passing comets leave us, yet stay in the sky, these eyes have their nightfalls, but it is not true that they die. Blue or black, all loved, all beautiful, open to see some enormous dawn, the eyes closed here are seeing still on the other side of the tomb.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 by Peter Low, (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 René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), "Les Yeux", appears in Stances et Poèmes, in 1. Stances, in La Vie intérieure, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1866
This text was added to the website: 2022-09-05
Line count: 20
Word count: 123