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Rayons des yeux et des soleils Des ramures et des fontaines Lumière du sol et du ciel De l'homme et de l'oubli de l'homme Un nuage couvre le sol Un nuage couvre le ciel Soudain la lumière m'oublie La mort seule demeure entière Je suis une ombre je ne vois plus Le soleil jaune le soleil rouge Le soleil blanc le ciel changeant Je ne sais plus La place du bonheur vivant Au bord de l'ombre sans ciel ni terre.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Paul Éluard, Œuvres complètes, Vol. 1, Paris: Gallimard, 1968, Page 1026.
Text Authorship:
- by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, no title, written 1938, appears in Le livre ouvert, in 1. Le livre ouvert, I, in Vue donne vie, no. 1, Éd. des Cahiers d'Art, first published 1940 [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), "Rayons des yeux", FP 147 no. 1 (1950), published 1951 [ medium voice and piano ], from La Fraîcheur et le feu, no. 1, Éd. Max Eschig [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Frank Van Nimwegen (b. 1961), "Rayons des yeux", 1995 [ SATB chorus ], from Six images intemporelles, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CHI Chinese (中文) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Ingrid Schmithüsen) , "Lichtstrahl der Augen", 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: 80
Lichtstrahl der Augen und der Sonnen Des Geästs und der Brunnen Lichter der Erde und des Himmels Des Menschen und des Menschenvergessens Eine Wolke bedeckt den Boden Eine Wolke bedeckt den Himmel Plötzlich vergißt mich das Licht Allein der Tod bleibt allumfassend Ich bin ein Schatten ich schaue nicht mehr Die gelbe Sonne die rote Sonne Die weiße Sonne den Himmelswechsel Ich erkenne nicht mehr Den Ort des lebendigen Glücks Am Rande des Schattens ohne Himmel und Erde.
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, no title, written 1938, appears in Le livre ouvert, in 1. Le livre ouvert, I, in Vue donne vie, no. 1, Éd. des Cahiers d'Art, first published 1940
This text was added to the website: 2013-05-30
Line count: 14
Word count: 78