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by Theocritus (c310 BCE - c250 BCE)
Translation by François Marie Arouet (1694 - 1778), as Voltaire

Reine des nuits, dis quel fut mon amour
Language: French (Français)  after the Greek (Ελληνικά) 
Reine des nuits, dis quel fut mon [amour]1 ;
Comme en mon sein [les frissons]2 et la flamme 
Se [succédaient]3, me perdaient tour à tour ; 
Quels [doux]4 transports égarèrent mon âme ; 
Comment mes yeux cherchaient en vain le jour.
Comme j'aimais, et sans songer à plaire,
Je ne pouvais ni parler ni me taire...
Reine des nuits, dis quel fut mon amour. 

Mon amant vint. O moments [délectables]5 ! 
[Il prit mes mains, tu le sais, tu le vis]6, 
Tu fus témoin de ses serments coupables, 
[De ses baisers, de ceux que je rendis ; 
Des voluptés]7 dont je fus enivrée. 
Moments charmants, passez-vous sans retour ?
Daphnis trahit la foi qu'il m'a jurée ! 
Reine des cieux, dis quel fut mon amour.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   G. Alary 

About the headline (FAQ)

View text without footnotes

Confirmed with Jean Michel Moreau et al., Œuvres complètes de Voltaire: Études et documents biographiques, 1883. Paris: Garnier frères, 1878, page 507.

1 Alary: "bonheur"
2 Alary: "le frisson"
3 Alary: "succèdaient"
4 omitted by Alary.
5 Alary: "ineffables"
6 Alary: "Près de son cœur a palpité mon cœur"
7 Alary: "Dont m'abusaient le charme et la douceur !/ Rêves d'amour"

Text Authorship:

  • by François Marie Arouet (1694 - 1778), as Voltaire, "Théocrite" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Theocritus (c310 BCE - c250 BCE) [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Giulio Alary (1814 - 1891), "Reine des nuits" [ medium voice and piano ], from 20 Mélodies, Vol. II, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Durand & Schoenewerk [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2013-07-14
Line count: 16
Word count: 127

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