Five songs on poems by Edmond Haraucourt

Translations © by Lucy Fitz Gibbon

by Adela Maddison (c1862 - 1929)

View original-language texts alone: Cinq mélodies sur des poèmes d'Edmond Haraucourt

1. L'armada
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
-- Sors de ta maison et va sur la côte ; 
La maison est vide et la tour est haute,
     Monte sur la tour,
Vois au loin de la triste grève,
Les Espoirs partis sur la Mer des Rêves
     Rentrer tour à tour.

 ... 

-- Je vois un vaisseau sans mâts et sans voiles,
Où, découragé de croire aux étoiles,
  Le pilote dort ;
Le vent tord la nef que la mer secoue,
Et ma bien-aimée est peinte à la proue
  Dans sa robe d’or.

-- Reste sur la tour et regarde encore
Le vague horizon qui se décolore
   Dans la paix du soir:
 ... 

-- Je vois un vaisseau sous ses voiles graves
Qui, sinistrement, porte les épaves
  Du fait accompli :
Lourd de mâts rompus et de vielles peautres,
C’est l’espoir qui vient consoler les autres,
  L’espoir de l’oubli…

Text Authorship:

  • by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941), "L'armada", written 1891, appears in Seul, in 2. L'adoration, no. 83, Paris, Éd. Bibliothèque Charpentier, first published 1891

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by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941)
1. The armada
Language: English 
Leave your house and go to the coast;
The house is empty and the tower high,
     Climb the tower,
See as far as the sad, rocky beach
The Hopes that departed on the Sea of Dreams
     Returning one by one…

[ ... ]

I see a vessel without masts and without sails
Where, discouraged from believing in the stars,
     The pilot sleeps…
The wind wrings the ship shaken by the sea
And my beloved is painted on the prow
     In her golden dress

Remain on the tower and look again
At the hazy horizon which becomes bleached
     In the peace of evening… 
[...
...
...]

I see a vessel under whose solemn sails
Grimly carries the wrecks
     Of done deeds:
Heavy with shattered masts and old rudders
It is hope who comes to console the others,
     The hope of forgetting…

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2020 by Lucy Fitz Gibbon, (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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This text was added to the website: 2020-01-13
Line count: 36
Word count: 134

Translation © by Lucy Fitz Gibbon
2. Vespérale
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Dans le soir violet et les senteurs sereines
Qu’un zéphir berce autour des bois énamourés,
Le pèlerin s’en va doucement sous les chênes.

Il va. L’argent du fleuve et le velours des prés, 
Les coteaux de peluche et les routes de soie
S’enveloppent au loin des frissons mordorés.

La caresse du ciel met un manteau de joie 
Sur la terre, et la terre encore chaude d’amour 
Se pâme de lumière et rit pour qu’on la voie.

 ... 

Seul, baigné du bonheur qui plane sur les choses,
Le pèlerin s’en va tout au long des chemins,
Et parce que ses doigts ont touché tes doigts roses

Il baise dans ses mains le parfum de tes mains.

Text Authorship:

  • by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941), "Vespérale", written 1891, appears in Seul, in 2. L'adoration, no. 19, Paris, Éd. Bibliothèque Charpentier, first published 1891

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by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941)
2. At evening
Language: English 
In the violet evening and along serene paths
That a zephyr lulls around enamored woods
The pilgrim sweetly strolls beneath the [trees]1.

He walks. The silver of the river and velvet of fields
The plush hills and [the road]2 of silk
Envelop themselves in bronze shivers.

The caress of the sky places a mantle of joy
Upon the earth, and the earth, still warm with love,
Swoons with the light and laughs so to be seen.

[ ... ]

Alone, bathed in the happiness that hovers over all,
The pilgrim walks along the paths
And because his fingers have touched your pink fingers

He kisses in his hands the perfume of your hands.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2020 by Lucy Fitz Gibbon, (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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View original text (without footnotes)
1 Maddison: "oaks"
2 Maddison: "roads"


This text was added to the website: 2020-01-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 113

Translation © by Lucy Fitz Gibbon
3. La bien‑aimée
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Elle est venue, elle a souri, la bien-aimée :
Elle a dit : « Que c’est mal ! » et m’a longtemps souri :
Son geste embaumait l’air comme un jardin fleuri,
Et la chambre s’en est lentement parfumée,
Et j’ai cru que la terre était montée aux cieux…
O bien-aimée ! Et puis, elle a fermé les yeux,
Comme d’autres, hélas, hélas, la bien-aimée.

Text Authorship:

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by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941)
3. The beloved
Language: English 
She came, she smiled, my beloved.
She said, “How bad it is!” and smiled at me for a long time.
Her movement perfumed the air like a flowering garden,
And the room slowly became fragrant,
And I believed the earth was lifted to the heavens!
Oh, beloved! And then she closed her eyes,
Like the others, alas, alas, my beloved.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2020 by Lucy Fitz Gibbon, (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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Translation of titles
"Elle est venue" = "She came"
"La bien-aimée" = "The beloved"



This text was added to the website: 2020-01-13
Line count: 7
Word count: 60

Translation © by Lucy Fitz Gibbon
4. Soir en mer
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Vois-tu comme la mer est vaste autour de nous ?
Notre barque est une algue errant aux creux des lames ;
Le vent nocturne et froid qui court sur les remous
Mêle au frisson des flots le frisson de nos âmes.

Pareils aux alcyons qui flottent dans leurs nids,
Nous berçons notre exil sur le désert de l’onde,
Et la nuit nous écrase entre deux infinis : 
Mais nos cœurs sont plus grands que la mer n’est profonde.

 ... 

Oh, rends-moi ta caresse, et dis si tu comprends,
Quand ta lèvre m’appelle et quand mon bras t’enlace,
Que nos cœurs étoilés puissent être si grands,
Et que tant de bonheur tienne si peu de place !

Text Authorship:

  • by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941), "Soir en mer", written 1891, appears in Seul, in 3. La possession, no. 22, Paris, Éd. Bibliothèque Charpentier, first published 1891

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by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941)
4. Evening at sea
Language: English 
Do you see how vast the sea is around us?
Our boat is errant seaweed in the hollow of the waves.
The night wind is cold which runs along the eddies
Mixing the shiver of swells with the shiver of our souls.

Like to corals which float in their nests,
We rock to sleep our exile on the desert of the wave.
And the night crushes us between two infinities
But our hearts are larger than the sea is deep

[ ... ]

Oh caress me, and tell me if you understand
When your lips call to me and when my arms embrace you
That our starry hearts could be so large,
And that so much happiness could take up such little space!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2020 by Lucy Fitz Gibbon, (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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This text was added to the website: 2020-01-13
Line count: 16
Word count: 120

Translation © by Lucy Fitz Gibbon
5. Mon amour était mort
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Mon amour était mort, ma peine était finie,
Et j’errais sous les cieux pour le leur raconter :
     La nuit rêvait avec tant d’harmonie
        Que je me suis mis à chanter.

Chanter en t’oubliant ! Je chantais l’allégresse 
D’avoir conquis la paix qui doit toujours durer :
     Mais je chantais avec tant de tendresse,
        Que je me suis mis à pleurer.

Text Authorship:

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by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941)
5. My love had died
Language: English 
My love had died, my pain had ended
And I wandered under the skies to tell them of it:
     The night dreamed with such harmony
        That I began to sing.

To sing while forgetting you! I sang of the joy of 
Having conquered the peace which must always remain.
     But I sang with such tenderness
        That I began to cry.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2020 by Lucy Fitz Gibbon, (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: 

Based on:

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Translations of titles:
"Romance" = "Romance"
"Mon amour était mort" = "My love had died"



This text was added to the website: 2020-01-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 60

Translation © by Lucy Fitz Gibbon