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by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941)
Translation © by Faith J. Cormier

Dame du Ciel
 (Sung text for setting by C. Koechlin)
 See original
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG GER
Madame la Lune, en robe gris pâle,
Dans les velours bleus et les satins verts
De ses grands salons à plafond d'opale
Reçoit les rimeurs de vers.

Et roulant son front nimbé de topaze
Parmi les coussins de nuages flous,
Elle écoute avec une feinte extase
Chanter son peuple de fous.

Nos regrets, nos vœux, nos bonheurs, nos peines,
Elle connaît tout depuis dix mille ans;
 ... 

Pour guérir nos cœurs des tourments que sème
Le sourire froid des femmes ses sœurs,
Elle orne gaîment son sourire  ... 
De caressantes douceurs.

 ... 

Puis, lorsque s'éteint le lustre d'étoiles
Qui scintille au loin dans le clair obscur,
Lente, elle s'en va dégrafer ses voiles
Sous ses courtines d'azur.

On croit qu'elle dort, lasse et solitaire,
Mais son char de nacre aux luisants essieux
L'emporte en fuyant autour de la terre;
Et déjà sous d'autres cieux,

Madame la Lune, en robe gris pâle,
Dans les velours bleus et les satins verts
De ses grands salons à plafond d'opale,
Reçoit les rimeurs de vers.

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4,6-8 of the original text.

Composition:

    Set to music by Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950), "Dame du Ciel", op. 7 no. 3 (1894), orchestrated 1897, stanzas 1-4,6-8

Text Authorship:

  • by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941), "Dame du Ciel", subtitle: "a H. Béthune", appears in L'Âme nue, in 2. La Vie intérieure, in 1. L'Aube, no. 11

See other settings of this text.

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

  • ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , no title, copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Marc Lerique-Koechlin [Guest Editor] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 212

Lady of heaven
 (Sung text translation for setting by C. Koechlin)
 See original
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
Madame Moon, in a pale-gray gown,
amid the blue velvet and green satin
of her opal-ceilinged salons,
receives the versemakers.

Rolling her topaz-haloed brow,
among swarms of misty clouds,
she listens in feigned ecstasy
to the songs of her mad followers.

Our regrets, our wishes, our joys, our pains,
she's known them all for ten thousand years! 
...
...

To heal our hearts from the torments 
sown by the cold smiles of women, her sisters,
she gaily decks her smile 
with caressing sweetness.

 ... 

When the far-off chandelier 
of stars goes out,
she slowly unhooks the veils 
from her azure curtains.

We think she sleeps, tired and alone,
but her mother-of-pearl chariot
with the shining axles takes her fleeing round the Earth,
and already, under other skies,

Madame Moon, in a pale-gray gown,
amid the blue velvet and green satin
of her opal-ceilinged salons,
receives the versemakers.

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4,6-8 of the original text.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2001 by Faith J. Cormier, (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 Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941), "Dame du Ciel", subtitle: "a H. Béthune", appears in L'Âme nue, in 2. La Vie intérieure, in 1. L'Aube, no. 11
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 144

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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