Consort of the ether, indolent steam

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by Ioannes Papadiamantopoulos (1856 - 1910), as Jean Moréas

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Compagne de l'éther, indolente fumée

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Compagne de l'éther, indolente fumée,
    Je te ressemble un peu...
Ta vie est d'un instant, la mienne est consumée;
    Mais nous sortons du feu.

L'homme, pour subsister, en recueillant la cendre,
    Qu'il use ses genoux,
Sans plus nous soucier et sans jamais descendre,
    Évanouissons-nous!

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Jean Moréas, Les Stances, Société du Mercure de France, 1905 (p. 129-130).

Text Authorship:

by Ioannes Papadiamantopoulos (1856 - 1910), as Jean Moréas, no title, appears in Les Stances, in 4. Stances, quatrième livre, no. 7 [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 Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947), "Fumée", published 1904 [ medium voice and piano ], from Les feuilles blessées, no. 8, from Mélodies - 2ème volume, no. 10, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Laura Prichard [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 44

Consort of the ether, indolent steam

Language: English after the French (Français)

Consort of the ether, indolent steam,
I resemble you a bit...
Your life lasts but an instant, mine is already used up;
But we are both emerging from the forge.

Man, to survive, may be annealed in the heat of hot cinders,
May wear out his knees posting,
Without further concern and without ever dismounting,
Let us vanish without a trace!

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "Fumée" = "Steam"

Translator's note for stanza 2, line 2, word 6 ("posting") : While riding a horse, one places their feet in metal stirrups and “posts,” bending the knees when rising in and out of the saddle.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2024 by Laura Prichard, (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 Ioannes Papadiamantopoulos (1856 - 1910), as Jean Moréas, no title, appears in Les Stances, in 4. Stances, quatrième livre, no. 7
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2024-04-24
Line count: 8
Word count: 61