First words | In my voice there sings

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by Charles van Lerberghe (1861 - 1907)

Translation © by Peter Low

Comme elle chante

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG GER

Comme elle chante
Dans ma voix,
L'âme longtemps murmurante
Des fontaines et des bois !

Air limpide du paradis,
Avec tes grappes de rubis,
Avec tes gerbes de lumière,
Avec tes roses et tes fruits ;

Quelle merveille en nous à cette heure !
Des paroles depuis des âges endormies
En des sons, en des fleurs.
Sur mes lèvres enfin prennent vie.

Depuis que mon souffle a dit leur chanson,
Depuis que ma voix les a créés,
Quel silence heureux et profond
Naît de leurs âmes allégées !

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• M. Crickboom

M. Crickboom sets stanzas 1-3

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Charles Van Lerberghe, La Chanson d’Ève, Société du Mercure de France, 1904, 2e éd., pages 27-28.

Text Authorship:

by Charles van Lerberghe (1861 - 1907), no title, written 1903, appears in La Chanson d'Ève, in 1. Premières paroles, no. 6, 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), "Prima verba", op. 95 no. 2 (1906), published 1906 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from La Chanson d'Ève, no. 2, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

by Mathieu Crickboom (1871 - 1947), "Roses ardentes", op. 12 (Dix Mélodies pour chant et piano) no. 9 (1915) [ voice and piano ]
- View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]

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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 84

First words

Language: English after the French (Français)

 In my voice there sings
 - and how it sings! -
 the long-murmuring soul
 of the streams and woods!
 
 Oh limpid air of paradise,
 with your clusters of rubies,
 your sheaves of light,
 your roses and your fruits,
 
 what a miracle is happening in us at this moment!
 Words that for eons were sleeping
 are now at last coming to life
 in sounds, in flowers on my lips.
 
 Now that my breath has uttered their song,
 now that my voice has created them,
 what a deep blissful silence
 is born from their lightened souls!

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. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Charles van Lerberghe (1861 - 1907), no title, written 1903, appears in La Chanson d'Ève, in 1. Premières paroles, no. 6, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1904
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 93