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La Sirène avait tes yeux clairs, Tes chers yeux inconstants et vagues, Tes yeux pâles et sans éclairs, Tes yeux de la couleur des vagues. Et la Sirène avait ta voix, Ta voix troublante d'enfant blonde, Quand elle attirait autrefois Les marins sous la mer profonde. Et n'avait-elle pas ton cœur, Lorsque la perfide adorable Souriait, de son air moqueur, A ces morts couchés sur le sable ?
Confirmed with Jean Lahor, L'Illusion, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1888, page 61.
Note: in the third edition of L'Illusion, published in 1893, there was a typo in stanza 1, line 2, word 4 ("insconstants"). This typo did not appear in the 1888 edition.
Text Authorship:
- by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, "Sirène", written 1875, appears in L'Illusion, in 1. Chants de l'Amour et de la Mort, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1875 [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 François Berthet (1873 - 1956), "Sirène", op. 11 no. 7 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Rouart-Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Ravarin (1890 - 1917), "Sirène", op. 1 (1906) [ high voice and piano ], from Mélodies, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Sebastian Benson Schlesinger (1837 - 1917), "Sirène", op. 76 no. 3 [ voice and piano ], A. Quinzard [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Siren", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2014-06-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 67
The Siren had your clear eyes, Your dear eyes, fickle and vague, Your pale eyes without a spark, Your eyes the color of the waves. And the Siren had your voice, Your disturbing voice of a fair-haired child, When in the past she would lure Sailors under the deep sea. And didn't she have your heart, When the adorable betrayer Smiled, with her mocking air, At those who lay dead on the sand?
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (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 Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, "Sirène", written 1875, appears in L'Illusion, in 1. Chants de l'Amour et de la Mort, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1875
This text was added to the website: 2025-05-05
Line count: 12
Word count: 73