Chaque coquillage incrusté Dans la grotte où nous nous aimâmes À sa particularité. L'un a la pourpre de nos âmes Dérobée au sang de nos cœurs Quand je brûle et [quand]1 tu t'enflammes ; Cet autre affecte tes langueurs Et tes pâleurs alors que, lasse, Tu m'en veux de mes yeux moqueurs ; Celui-ci contrefait la grâce De ton oreille, et celui-là Ta nuque rose, courte et grasse ; Mais un, entre autres, me troubla.
Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 17-18.
Note: All ampersands (&) as appear in the first publication are changed to "et".
1 some editions: "que"Text Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Les coquillages", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 9, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Gérard Condé (b. 1947), "Les coquillages", 1973, published 2001 [ reciter and piano ], from Fêtes galantes, récitation accompagnée au piano, no. 6, Éd. Henry Lemoine [sung text not yet checked]
- by Antonio Lima Fragoso (1897 - 1918), "Les coquillages", 1917, published 1972 [ voice and piano ], from Cançoes do sol poente - Poèmes Saturniens, no. 4, Lisbonne, Éd. Valentim de Carvalho [sung text not yet checked]
- by Werner (Erich) Josten (1885 - 1963), "Les coquillages", published 1931 [ voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies de Paul Verlaine, no. 3, Paris, Sénart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Pierre-Yvan Jouffroy , "Les coquillages", [1949] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fernand Ochsé (1879 - 1944), "Les coquillages", 1908, published 1913 [ voice and piano ], from Le Parc, no. 7, Berlin, Fürstner [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jósef-Zygmunt Szulc (1875 - 1956), "Les coquillages", op. 83 (Dix mélodies sur des poésies de Verlaine) no. 7, published 1907 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Rouart Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Škeble"
- ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , "The seashells", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2008-09-12
Line count: 13
Word count: 72
Každá škeble perleťová v sluji, kde jsi se mně vzdala, zvláštní jednu vlastnosť chová. Jedna jako purpur sálá, jak trysk z duše v krve žehu, když jsem vzplál, když ty jsi vzplála. Ta tvou nápodobí něhu, když zříš na mne s ironií láskou syta, s líčkem sněhu. V jiné vidím poesii tvého ouška, jiná skvěla se tvou plnou, krátkou šíjí. Jedna však mne zmátla zcela.
Text Authorship:
- by Jaroslav Vrchlický (1853 - 1912), "Škeble" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Les coquillages", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 9, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-05-08
Line count: 13
Word count: 65