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Main dominée par le cœur Cœur dominé par le lion Lion dominé par l'oiseau L'oiseau qu'efface un nuage Le lion que le désert grise Le cœur que la mort habite La main refermée en vain Aucun secours tout m'échappe Je vois ce qui disparaît Je comprends que je n'ai rien Et je m'imagine à peine Entre les murs une absence Puis l'exil dans les ténèbres Les yeux purs la tête inerte.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Paul Éluard, Œuvres complètes, Vol. 1, Paris: Gallimard, 1968, Pages 1126-1127.
Text Authorship:
- by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "La main le cœur le lion l'oiseau", appears in Poésie et vérité, first published 1942 [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 Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "Main dominée par le cœur", FP 135 (1947), published 1947 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Rouart, Lerolle [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Ingrid Schmithüsen) , "Hand überwunden durch das Herz", copyright © 2013, (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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 71
Hand overcome by the heart Heart overcome by the lion Lion overcome by the bird The bird that a cloud obscures The lion that the desert intoxicates The heart that death inhabits The hand closed in vain No help everything escapes me I see what disappears I understand that I have nothing And I barely imagine myself Between the walls an absence Then exile in the darkness The eyes pure the head inert.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"La main le cœur le lion l'oiseau" = "The Hand the Heart the Lion the Bird"
"Main dominée par le cœur" = "Hand overcome by the heart"
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 Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "La main le cœur le lion l'oiseau", appears in Poésie et vérité, first published 1942
This text was added to the website: 2025-12-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 73