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Ô mort, poussière d'étoiles, Lève-toi sous mes pas ! Viens, ô douce vague qui brilles Dans les ténèbres ; Emporte-moi dans ton néant ! Viens, souffle sombre où je vacille, Comme une flamme ivre de vent ! C'est en toi que je veux m'étendre, M'éteindre et me dissoudre, Mort où mon âme aspire ! [Dieu fort qu'elle attend Avec des chants et des rires d'amour.]1 Viens, brise-moi comme une fleur d'écume, Une fleur de soleil à la cime Des eaux, [Que la nuit effeuille, que l'ombre efface, Et que l'espace épanouit.]1 Et comme d'une amphore d'or Un vin de flamme et d'arome divin, Épanche mon âme En ton abîme, pour qu'elle embaume La terre sombre et le souffle des morts.
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View text without footnotes1 omitted by Fauré.
Text Authorship:
- by Charles van Lerberghe (1861 - 1907), no title, written 1903, appears in La Chanson d'Ève, in 4. Crépuscule, no. 10, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1904 [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), "Ô mort, poussière d'étoiles", op. 95 no. 10 (1906), published 1906 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from La Chanson d'Ève, no. 10, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Oh mort, pols d’estrelles", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Pieter van der Woel) , "O dood, nevel van de sterren", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Oh Death, dust of stars", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "O Tod, du Sternenstaub", 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: 22
Word count: 117
Oh Death, dust of stars, rise up under my footsteps! Come, gentle wave shining in the dark, carry me off into your nothingness! Come, sombre breeze in which I sway, come like a flame intoxicated with wind! In you I want to stretch out, fade and dissolve, oh death, my soul's aspiration! [strong god whom my soul awaits with songs and laughter of love] Come, break me like a flower of foam, a sun-bloom on the crest of the waves! [a flower plucked by the night, obscured by shadow and scattered by space] And like a wine of fire and divine scent flowing from a golden amphora, pour out my soul into your abyss, so that it may perfume the dark earth and the breath of the dead.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Peter Low, (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), no title, written 1903, appears in La Chanson d'Ève, in 4. Crépuscule, no. 10, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1904
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 22
Word count: 129