English translations of Trois Lieder avec accompagnement obligé de piano et de violoncelle ou violon , opus 11

Pale star of evening, distant messenger,
Whose shining face sparkles amid the sails of the setting sun,
From your azure palace in the firmament, 
What do you look for on the earth [plain]?

The tempest moves off and the breezes calm.
The trembling forest weeps over the heather:
A golden moth, in its effortless flight,
Crosses the shrouded meadow.
What do you seek on the sleeping earth?
But I see you already setting behind the mountains;
You flee, smiling, melancholy friend,
And your twinkling gaze is about to disappear.

Star, descending to the green hillside,
Sad, silver rift in the mantle of Night,
You, who gaze from afar upon the shepherd,
Whose meandering flock follows him step by step, --
Star, where are you going, in this endless night?
Do you seek a bed along the riverbank among the reeds?
Where are you going so prettily, in this silent hour,
Dropping like a pearl into the depths of the waters?
Ah! if you must die, dear luminous one, and if you 
Wish to plunge your blond hair into the vast ocean,
Before you leave us, pause for just a moment;--
Star of love, do not depart [descend] from heaven!

                   I

To the country where war is waged
My beautiful love departed.
It seems to my desolate heart 
That I alone remain on earth.
When leaving, at our kiss goodbye,
He took my soul from my mouth...
Who is holding him back so long, O God?
There is the sun setting.
And I, all alone in my tower,
I still await his return.

                  II

The pigeons on the roof are cooing,
Cooing lovingly
With a sad and charming sound;
The waters under the large willows flow...
I feel ready to cry;
My heart, like a full lily, overflows
And I no longer dare to hope.
Here gleams the white moon.
And I, all alone in my tower,
I still await his return.

                  III

Someone is climbing the ramp rapidly.
Could it be him, my sweet love?
It isn't him, but only 
My little page with my lamp.
Evening winds, veiled, tell him 
That he is my thoughts and my dream,
All my joy and my longing.
Here is the dawn rising.
And I, all alone in my tower,
I still await his return.

Every day, where the reeds and branches spread,
By a river near where I live, a fisherman comes to sit –
For there, beneath the waves, he has seen pale shapes – 
And there, the dreamer remains from morning until evening.

The air trembles, the water sighs and appears to be alive [have a soul],
A blue eye opens and sparkles in the heart of a water lily,
A fish is transfigured and takes on the form of a woman,
With lovely arms and a charming appearance.

“Fisherman, come with me: I love you.
You will be king of the waters,
With a crown
Of iris and reeds!

“Penetrate, beneath the still water,
Like the darting of a green mantis;
Following your beloved,
Dive in without fear:

“At an altar in the shoals,
Made ready for our wedding vows,
A priest with scaled hands
Arrives in order to marry us.

“Fisherman, come with me: I love you.
You will be king of the waters,
With a crown
Of iris and reeds!”

And as the fisherman put his foot in the wave
To follow the beguiling apparition:
The water began to murmur, to froth and to deepen,
And to close upon him in a whirl…

“With my pale blue lips,
Come, I want to kiss you,
And with my alabaster arms
To enfold you,
To cradle you,
To squeeze you!

“Beneath the waters, with the flame of his
Passion, my love knows how to warm me.
I want, intoxicated by your soul,
A kiss
To gratify me,
Exhaust yourself!...”