Hand überwunden durch das Herz | Hand überwunden durch das Herz

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by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard

Translation © by Ingrid Schmithüsen

Main dominée par le cœur

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG GER

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.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Poulenc

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 überwunden durch das Herz

Language: German (Deutsch) after the French (Français)

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Hand überwunden durch das Herz
Herz überwunden durch den Löwen
Löwe überwunden durch den Vogel

Der Vogel der eine Wolke tilgt
Der Löwe den die Wüste betäubt
Das Herz das den Tod beherbergt
Die vergeblich geschlossene Hand

Keine Rettung alles entgleitet mir
Ich sehe das was entschwindet
Ich begreife dass ich nichts habe
Und ich stelle mir mit Mühe

Zwischen den Mauern eine Lücke vor
Dann das Exil in der Finsternis
Klare Augen reglos der Kopf.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2013 by Ingrid Schmithüsen, (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
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2013-05-30
Line count: 14
Word count: 76