Your great soft eyes seem like islands

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 Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Sérénade

(Sung text for setting by E. Chausson)

See original

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT ENG ENG

Tes grands yeux doux semblent des îles 
Qui nagent dans un lac d'azur :
Aux fraîcheurs de tes yeux tranquilles,
Fais-moi tranquille et fais-moi pur.

Ton corps a l'adorable enfance 
Des clairs paradis de jadis :
Enveloppe-moi de silence,
Du silence argenté des lys.

Alangui par les yeux tranquilles
Des étoiles caressant l'air,
J'ai tant rêvé la paix des îles,
Sous un soir frissonant et clair !

Composition:

Ernest Amédée Chausson

Text Authorship:

by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, "Sérénade mélancolique", appears in L'Illusion, in 1. Chants de l'Amour et de la Mort

See other settings of this text.

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Manuel Capdevila i Font) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Paul Hindemith) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (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: 75

Serenade

(Sung text translation for setting by E. Chausson)

See original

Language: English after the French (Français)

Your great soft eyes seem like islands
Swimming in a lake of azure:
In the coolness of your calm eyes,
Make me calm and make me pure.

Your body has the lovable youth
Of the bright paradises of yesteryear:
Envelop me with silence,
With the silvery silence of the lily.

Made languid by the calm eyes
Of stars that caress the air,
I've dreamed so of the peace of islands,
Beneath a night shivering and clear!

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (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 Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, "Sérénade mélancolique", appears in L'Illusion, in 1. Chants de l'Amour et de la Mort
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2025-08-30
Line count: 12
Word count: 84