×
Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)
Translation © by Laura Prichard
Mon bras pressait ta taille frêle
Language: French (Français)
Mon bras pressait ta taille frêle Et souple comme le roseau; Ton sein palpitait comme l'aile D'un jeune oiseau! Longtemps muets, nous contemplâmes Le ciel où s'éteignait le jour. Que se passait-il dans nos âmes? Amour! Amour! Comme un ange qui se dévoile, Tu me regardais, dans ma nuit, Avec ton beau regard d'étoile, Qui m'éblouit.
E. Lalo sets stanzas 3, 1-2
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Mon bras pressait ta taille frêle", written 1834, appears in Les Contemplations, in 2. Livre deuxiême -- L'âme en fleur, no. 10 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Max Arham (flourished 1911-1917), "Mon bras pressait ta taille", published <<1912 [ voice and piano ], from Seize mélodies, no. 37, Paris, Maurice Sénart, B. Roudanez et Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Mon bras pressait ta taille frêle", 2009 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Maxime Belliard (1888 - 1986), "Au crépuscule", published [1925] [ high voice and piano ], Édition Maurice Senart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bernard van Dieren (1887 - 1936), "Mon bras pressait ta taille frêle", 1921, published 1925 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Benjamin Louis Paul Godard (1849 - 1895), "Amour ! Amour !" [ voice and piano ], Paris, Durand [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fernand-Gustave Halphen (1872 - 1917), "Autrefois", 1894 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Hillemacher (1852 - 1933), "Souvenir" [ tenor or soprano and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, 1er volume, no. 20, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
- by Albert Huybrechts (1899 - 1938), "Eglogue", 1918 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis (Trouillon) Lacombe (1818 - 1884), "Idylle" [ high voice and piano ], Éd. Henri Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edouard Lalo (1823 - 1892), "Souvenir", 1870, published 1872, stanzas 3,1-2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles-Gaston Levadé (1869 - 1948), "Contemplation" [ voice and piano ], Éd. A. Quinzard [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marcel Mihalovici (1898 - 1985), "Mon bras pressait ta taille frêle", op. 25 no. 3 (1927), published 1932 [ voice and piano ], from Trois Romances de V. Hugo, no. 3, Éd. R. Deiss [sung text not yet checked]
- by Émile Naoumoff (b. 1962), "Comme un ange" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carlo Rossaro (1827 - 1878), "Mon bras pressait ta taille frêle " [ voice and piano ], from 15 Romanze e Contemplazioni in chiave di Sol con accompagnamento di Pianoforte, no. 2, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916), "Amour ! amour !", 1900 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Marie Jean Albert Widor (1844 - 1937), "Contemplation", op. 43 no. 3 [ high voice and piano ], from Quarante mélodies, no. 21, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Amy Pfrimmer) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 56
My arm squeezed your waist, fragile
Language: English after the French (Français)
My arm squeezed your waist, fragile And supple like the reed; Your breast beat like the wing Of a young bird! Mute for a long time, we contemplated The part of the sky where the daylight died away. What was happening in our souls? Love! Love! Like an angel who removes its veil, You looked at me, in my night, With your beautiful star-like gaze, Which dazzled me.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Prichard, (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 Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "Mon bras pressait ta taille frêle", written 1834, appears in Les Contemplations, in 2. Livre deuxiême -- L'âme en fleur, no. 10
This text was added to the website: 2016-04-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 68