Si j'avais les voiles brodés du ciel

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by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)

Translation © by Pierre Mathé

The cloths of heaven

(Sung text for setting by I. Gurney)

See original

Language: English

Our translations: FRE HUN

Had I the Heaven's embroidered cloths
Enwrought with golden and silver light
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Original title is "Aedh wishes for the cloths of heaven"; revised 1906; re-titled "He wishes for the cloths of heaven".

Composition:

Ivor (Bertie) Gurney

Text Authorship:

by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), title 1: "Aedh wishes for the cloths of heaven", title 2: "He wishes for the cloths of heaven", appears in The Wind among the reeds, first published 1899

See other settings of this text.

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

FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , copyright © 2015, (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: 8
Word count: 61

Si j'avais les voiles brodés du ciel

(Sung text translation for setting by I. Gurney)

See original

Language: French (Français) after the English

Si j'avais les voiles brodés du ciel
Brochés de lumière d'argent et d'or,
Les voiles bleus et pâles et sombres
De la nuit et de la lumière et du demi-jour,

Je voudrais étendre ces voiles sous tes pieds,
Mais, étant pauvre, je n'ai que mes rêves ;
J'ai étendu mes rêves sous tes pieds ;
Marche à pas légers, car tu marches sur mes rêves.

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Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2015 by Pierre Mathé, (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 English by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), title 1: "Aedh wishes for the cloths of heaven", title 2: "He wishes for the cloths of heaven", appears in The Wind among the reeds, first published 1899
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This text was added to the website: 2015-12-27
Line count: 8
Word count: 63