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Quand la fleur du soleil, la rose de Lahor, De son âme odorante a rempli goutte à goutte La fiole d'argile ou de cristal ou d'or, Sur le sable qui brûle on peut l'épandre toute. Les fleuves et la mer inonderaient en vain Ce sanctuaire étroit qui la tint enfermée : Il garde en se brisant son arôme divin, Et sa poussière heureuse en reste parfumée. Puisque par la blessure ouverte de mon cœur Tu t'écoules de même, ô céleste liqueur, Inexprimable amour qui m'enflammais pour elle ! Qu'il lui soit pardonné, que mon mal soit béni ! Par delà l'heure humaine et le temps infini Mon cœur est embaumé d'une odeur immortelle !
Confirmed with Leconte de Lisle, Poèmes tragiques, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1886, pages 70-71. First appeared in La Revue Contemporaine du 30 juin 1864, then in Poèmes tragiques, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, 1884.
Text Authorship:
- by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818 - 1894), "Le Parfum impérissable", written 1864?, appears in Poèmes tragiques, first published 1864 [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), "Le Parfum impérissable", op. 76 no. 1 (1897), published 1897, orchestrated 1924 by Henri-Paul Büsser [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jeanne Lefèvre , "Le Parfum impérissable", published [1921] [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois Mélodies, no. 2, Éd. Maurice Senart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maurice Pesse (1881 - 1943), "Le Parfum impérissable", published 1912 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Enoch & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El perfum imperible", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The imperishable perfume", copyright ©, (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: 14
Word count: 110
When the Indian Rose, flower of a sun-filled land, has dripped the fragrant essence of its soul into the phial of crystal, clay or gold, it can be all poured out on the burning sand. And then however much that narrow cell which held it safe is washed by tide or rain or smashed to fragments, still there will remain amid the dust its sweet celestial smell. Since through the open lesion in my breast an essence no less precious and sublime - the love I bear for her - is spilt and spent, may she be pardoned! May my pain be blessed! Beyond today and into endless time my heart is perfumed by an immortal scent.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 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-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818 - 1894), "Le Parfum impérissable", written 1864?, appears in Poèmes tragiques, first published 1864
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 116