Wij zijn de schoonheid die de sterksten betovert

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by Charles Jean Grandmougin (1850 - 1930)

Translation © by Lidy van Noordenburg

Nous sommes la beauté qui charme les...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: DUT ENG

Nous sommes la beauté qui charme les plus forts,
  Les fleurs tremblantes de l'écume
        Et de la brume,
Nos baisers fugitifs sont le rêve des morts !

  Dans les profondeurs azurées 
          Et sacrées 
  Nous vivons loin du soleil d'or, 
  Et les voiles de la nuit brune
          Même sans lune,
  Sont le signal de notre essor !

  Parmi nos chevelures blondes
  L'eau miroite en larmes d'argent,
  Nos regards à l'éclat changeant
  Sont verts et bleus comme les ondes !

Avec un bruit pareil aux délicats frissons
          Des moissons
  Nous voltigeons sans avoir d'ailes ;
  Nous cherchons de tendres vainqueurs,
  Nous sommes les sœurs immortelles
Offertes aux désirs de vos terrestres cœurs !

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• L. Boulanger • P. Dukas

L. Boulanger sets stanzas 1, 3-4
Naoumoff sets stanzas 1, 3-4
P. Dukas sets stanzas 1, 3-4

About the headline (FAQ)

Excerpt from the poem "Les sirènes"

Text Authorship:

by Charles Jean Grandmougin (1850 - 1930), no title, written 1888?, appears in À pleines voiles, Poésies, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1888 [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 Lili Boulanger (1893 - 1918), "Les Sirènes", 1911, stanzas 1,3-4 [ soprano, chorus, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Erika Budai (b. 1966), "Les Sirènes", 2005 [ women's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul Abraham Dukas (1865 - 1935), "Les Sirènes", 1889, stanzas 1,3-4 [ ssa chorus and orchestra ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Émile Naoumoff (b. 1962), "Les Sirènes", 1962, stanzas 1,3-4 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies choisies, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

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

DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Korin Kormick) , "The sirens", copyright © 2013, (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: 20
Word count: 106

Wij zijn de schoonheid die de sterksten...

Language: Dutch (Nederlands) after the French (Français)

Wij zijn de schoonheid die de sterksten betovert
De trillende bloemen van het schuim
En van de mist
Onze vluchtige kussen zijn de droom van de doden! 

[...
...
...
...
...
...]

Tussen onze blonde haren
Spiegelt het water met zilveren tranen.
Onze blikken op de veranderende glinstering
Zijn groen en blauw als de golven.

Met een zelfde geluid als de fragiele huiveringen
Van de oogsten
Fladderen wij zonder vleugels.
Wij zoeken tedere overwinnaars
Wij zijn de onsterfelijke zussen
Opgeofferd aan de verlangens van uw aardse harten.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "Les Sirènes" = "De Sirenen"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to Dutch (Nederlands) copyright © 2023 by Lidy van Noordenburg, (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:

a text in French (Français) by Charles Jean Grandmougin (1850 - 1930), no title, written 1888?, appears in À pleines voiles, Poésies, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1888
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-06-07
Line count: 20
Word count: 82