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Three Mélodies (Rainer Maria Rilke)
Translations © by Grant Hicks
by Narcís Bonet (b. 1933)
View original-language texts alone: Trois Mélodies (Rainer Maria Rilke)
Ce soir mon cœur fait chanter des anges qui se souviennent... Une voix, presque mienne, par trop de silence tentée, monte et se décide à ne plus revenir ; tendre et intrépide, à quoi va-t-elle s'unir ?
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, no. 1
See other settings of this text.
Tonight my heart makes angels sing, who remember.... A voice, almost my own, tempted by too much silence, rises and decides never to return; tender and undaunted, with what will it unite?
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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, no. 1
Go to the general single-text view
Translations of titles:
"Ce soir" = "Tonight"
"Ce soir mon cœur" = "Tonight My Heart"
"Ce soir mon cœur fait chanter" = "Tonight My Heart Makes Sing"
"Ce soir mon cœur fait chanter des anges" = "Tonight My Heart Makes Angels Sing"
"Mon coeur fait chanter des anges" = "My Heart Makes Angels Sing"
"souviennent" = "Remember"
This text was added to the website: 2025-08-29
Line count: 8
Word count: 32
Figure de femme, sur son sommeil fermée, on dirait qu'elle goûte quelque bruit à nul autre pareil qui la remplit toute. De son corps sonore qui dort elle tire la jouissance d'être un murmure encor sous le regard du silence.
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "La Dormeuse", appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, no. 56
See other settings of this text.
Confirmed with The Complete French Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, Saint Paul: Greywolf Press, 1986, Page 204.
A woman's face, closed upon its sleep: you might say she tastes some sound unlike any other that fills her completely. From her sonorous sleeping body she draws the pleasure of being a murmur once more under the gaze of silence.
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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "La Dormeuse", appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, no. 56
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2025-09-03
Line count: 8
Word count: 41
Nymphe, se revêtant toujours de ce qui la dénude, que ton corps s'exalte pour l'onde ronde et rude. Sans repos tu changes d'habit, même de chevelure ; derrière tant de fuite, ta vie reste présence pure.
Text Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Petite cascade", appears in Poèmes français, in 2. Les Quatrains Valaisans, no. 1
See other settings of this text.
Confirmed with The Complete French Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, Saint Paul: Greywolf Press, 1986, Page 104.
Nymph, always dressing again in that which strips you bare, let your body be excited for the water, round and rough. Without respite you change your clothes, even your hair; behind so much fleeing, your life remains pure presence.
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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Petite cascade", appears in Poèmes français, in 2. Les Quatrains Valaisans, no. 1
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2025-09-03
Line count: 8
Word count: 39