Le Sylphe
Language: French (Français)
Ni vu ni connu
Je suis le parfum
Vivant et défunt
Dans le vent venu !
Ni vu ni connu,
Hasard ou génie ?
À peine venu
La tâche est finie !
Ni lu ni compris ?
Aux meilleurs esprits
Que d'erreurs promises !
Ni vu ni connu,
Le temps d'un sein nu
Entre deux chemises !
First published in Intentions, no. 1, January 1922.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Suzanne Baron Supervielle (1910 - 2004), "Le Sylphe", 1934 [ voice and piano ], from Mélodies, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Benjamin C. S. Boyle , "Le Sylphe", op. 15 no. 3, published 2007, first performed 2008 [ baritone or mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Le passage des rêves, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ferenc Farkas (1905 - 2000), "Le Sylphe", 1996, published 1996 [ medium voice and piano ], Édition Énekhangra és Zongorára [sung text not yet checked]
- by François de La Rochefoucauld (flourished c1950), "Le Sylphe", published 1950 [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies de François de La Rochefoucauld, poèmes de Paul Valéry - 1er recueil, no. 2, Paris, Éd. Auber [sung text not yet checked]
- by Frederic Mompou i Dencausse (1893 - 1987), "Le Sylphe", 1973 [ high voice and piano or orchestra ], from Cinq Mélodies sur des Textes de Paul Valéry, no. 3, Max Eschig [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The Sylph", 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: 14
Word count: 51
The Sylph
Language: English after the French (Français)
Too faint to be noticed
I am the scent,
live or dead,
that comes in the wind!
Too quick to be noticed,
pure chance or genius?
I've no sooner arrived
than the task is done!
Not read or understood?
So many errors predicted
even for the best minds!
Too quick to be noticed,
the moment of a naked breast
when she changes blouses!
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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2022-09-23
Line count: 14
Word count: 63
