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Avril, et c'est le point du jour. Tes blondes sœurs qui te ressemblent, En ce moment, toutes ensembles S'avancent vers toi, cher Amour. Tu te tiens dans un clos ombreux De myrte et d'aubépine blanche ; La porte s'ouvre entre les branches ; Le chemin est mystérieux. Elles, lentes, en longues robes, Une à une, main dans la main, Franchissent le seuil indistinct Où de la nuit devient de l'aube. Celle qui s'approche d'abord, Regarde l'ombre, te découvre, Crie, et la fleur de ses yeux s'ouvre Splendide dans un rire d'or. Et, jusqu'à la dernière sœur Toutes tremblent, tes lèvres touchent Leurs lèvres, l'éclair de ta bouche Éclate jusque dans leur cœur.
Text Authorship:
- by Charles van Lerberghe (1861 - 1907), "La messagère", appears in Entrevisions, in 1. Jeux et songes, no. 4, Bruxelles, Éd. Lacomblez, first published 1898 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "La messagère", op. 106 no. 3 (1914), published 1915 [ medium voice and piano ], from Le jardin clos, no. 3, Paris, Éd. Durand & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La missatgera", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Pieter van der Woel) , "De boodschapper", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "The messenger", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Vorboten", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Didier Pelat
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 110
An April dawning. Your blonde sisters, so like you, are all at this moment walking toward you, Love. You wait, shaded by myrtle and hawthorn. The doorway opens between the branches. The pathway is mysterious. Slowly, in their long dresses, one by one and hand in hand, they cross the blurred threshold where night becomes dawn. The first in line searches the shadows and, with a cry, finds you. The flower of her eyes opens, splendid in golden laughter. Each one, to the last sister, each trembles as your lips touch her lips and the lightning of your mouth explodes to their heart.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 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.
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles van Lerberghe (1861 - 1907), "La messagère", appears in Entrevisions, in 1. Jeux et songes, no. 4, Bruxelles, Éd. Lacomblez, first published 1898
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 104