My arm squeezed your waist, fragile

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by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)

Translation © by Laura Stanfield Prichard

Souvenir

(Sung text for setting by E. Lalo)

See base text

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG ENG

 ... 

Comme un ange qui se dévoile,
Tu me regardais, dans ma nuit,
Avec ton beau regard d'étoile,
Qui m'éblouit.

Mon bras pressait ta taille frêle 
Et souple comme un 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!

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 3,1-2 of the original text.

Composition:

Edouard Lalo

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

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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Laura Stanfield 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: 57

My arm squeezed your waist, fragile

(Sung text translation for setting by E. Lalo)

See original

Language: English after the French (Français)

 ... 

Like an angel who removes its veil,
You looked at me, in my night,
With your beautiful star-like gaze,
Which dazzled me.

My arm squeezed your waist, fragile 
And supple like a 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!

 ...

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Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 3,1-2 of the original text.

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