My arm squeezed your waist, fragile

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by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)

Translation © by Laura Stanfield Prichard

Mon bras pressait ta taille frêle

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG ENG

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.

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• E. Lalo

E. Lalo sets stanzas 3, 1-2

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Text 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]

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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: 57

My arm squeezed your waist, fragile

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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.

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Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Stanfield 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.
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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
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This text was added to the website: 2016-04-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 69