Five Poems of Paul Eluard

Song Cycle by Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963)

View original-language texts alone: Cinq Poèmes de Paul Éluard

1. Peut‑il se reposer
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Peut-il se reposer celui qui dort
Il ne voit pas la nuit ne voit pas l'invisible
Il a de grandes couvertures
Et des coussins de sang sur des coussins de boue

Sa tête est sous les toits et ses mains sont fermées
Sur les outils de la fatigue
Il dort pour éprouver sa force
La honte d'être aveugle dans un si grand silence

Aux rivages que la mer rejette
Il ne voit pas les poses silencieuses
Du vent qui fait entrer l'homme dans ses statues
Quand il s'apaise

Bonne volonté du sommeil
D'un bout à l'autre de la mort.

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by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard
1. Can he rest?
Language: English 
 Can the sleeping man rest?
 He cannot see the night, cannot see the invisible.
 He has big blankets
 and cushions of blood on cushions of mud.
 
 His head is under the roofs, and his hands are clasped
 on the tools of fatigue.
 He is sleeping to test his strength -
 shameful to be blind in such a great silence.
 
 On the shores rejected by the ocean
 he does not see the silent poses
 of the wind which ushers man into its statues
 when it calms down.
 
 Oh the goodwill of sleep
 for the entire length of death!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2002 by Peter Low, (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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 97

Translation © by Peter Low
2. Il la prend dans ses bras
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Il la prend dans ses bras
Lueurs brillantes un instant entrevues
Aux omoplates aux épaules aux seins
Puis cachées par un nuage.

Elle porte la main sur son coeur
Elle pâlit elle frissonne
Qui donc a crié?

Mais l'autre s'il est encor vivant
On le retrouvera
Dans une ville inconnue.

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by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard
2. He takes her into his arms
Language: English 
 He takes her into his arms.
 Bright lights are glimpsed for an instant
 on her upper back, shoulders and breasts,
 then hidden by a cloud.
 
 She lifts her hand to her heart.
 She pales, she quivers.
 So who cried out?
 
 But the other man, if he's still alive
 will be found
 in an unknown city.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2002 by Peter Low, (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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Line count: 10
Word count: 56

Translation © by Peter Low
3. Plume d'eau claire
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Plume d'eau claire pluie fragile
Fraîcheur voilée de caresses
De regards et de paroles
Amour qui voile ce que j'aime.

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by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard
3. A plume of clear water
Language: English 
 A plume of clear water, a fragile rain,
 a freshness veiled by caresses,
 by gazes, by words -
 love which veils what I love.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2002 by Peter Low, (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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Line count: 4
Word count: 24

Translation © by Peter Low
4. Rôdeuse au front de verre
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Rôdeuse au front de verre,
Son coeur s'inscrit dans une étoile noire.
Ses yeux montrent sa tête,
Ses yeux ont la fraîcheur de l'été,
La chaleur de l'hiver.
Ses yeux s'ajourent, rient très fort.
Ses yeux joueurs gagnent leur part de clarté.
Rôdeuse au front de verre.

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by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard
4. She prowls with a brow of glass
Language: English 
 She prowls with a brow of glass.
 Her heart is inscribed in a black star.
 Her eyes show her head.
 Her eyes have the coolness of summer
 and the heat of winter.
 Her eyes open out, they laugh very loud.
 Her playing eyes win their share of brightness.
 She prowls with a brow of glass.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2002 by Peter Low, (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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 56

Translation © by Peter Low
5. Amoureuses
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Elles ont les épaules hautes
Et l'air malin
Ou bien des mines qui déroutent
La confiance est dans la poitrine
À la hauteur où l'aube de leurs seins se lève
Pour dévêtir la nuit

Des yeux à casser des cailloux
Des sourires sans y penser
Pour chaque rêve
Des rafales de cris de neige
Et des ombres déracinées.

Il faut les croire sur baiser
Et sur parole et sur regard
Et ne baiser que leurs baisers

Je ne montre que ton visage
Les grands orages de ta gorge
Tout ce que je connais et tout ce que j'ignore
Mon amour ton amour ton amour ton amour.

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First appeared in the revue La Révolution surréaliste, December 15, 1929, n°12, and then in À toute épreuve, Éd. Surréalistes, 1930.


by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard
5. Women in love
Language: English 
 They have high shoulders
 and a mischievous appearance
 or else disconcerting expressions.
 Confidence is in their chests
 at the height where the dawn of their breasts rises
 to undress the night.
 
 They have eyes that could break pebbles,
 and unconscious smiles.
 For every dream,
 squalls of shouting and snow,
 and uprooted shadows.
 
 One has to believe them by their kisses
 and their words and their gazes,
 and kiss only their kisses.
 
 I show only your face,
 the great storms of your bosom,
 all that I know and all that I don't know,
 my love... your love... your love ... your love.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2002 by Peter Low, (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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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 101

Translation © by Peter Low