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Il m'a dit: « Cette nuit, j'ai rêvé. J'avais ta chevelure autour de mon cou. J'avais tes cheveux comme un collier noir autour de ma nuque et sur ma poitrine. « Je les caressais, et c'étaient les miens ; et nous étions liés pour toujours ainsi, par la même chevelure, la bouche sur la bouche, ainsi que deux lauriers n'ont souvent qu'une racine. « Et peu à peu, il m'a semblé, tant nos membres étaient confondus, que je devenais toi-même, ou que tu entrais en moi comme mon songe. » Quand il eut achevé, il mit doucement ses mains sur mes épaules, et il me regarda d'un regard si tendre, que je baissai les yeux avec un frisson.
Authorship
- by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "La chevelure", appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Bucoliques en Pamphylie, no. 31 [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 Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "La chevelure", L. 97/(90) no. 2 (1897-8) [voice and piano], from Chansons de Bilitis, no. 2. [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by Aimée Strohl, dit Rita Strohl (1865 - 1941), "La chevelure", published 1900 [high voice and piano], from Bilitis, Poème en 12 chants, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Toledo & Cie. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The hair", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Nele Gramß) , "Das Haar", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Das Haar", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "La chioma", copyright © 2005, (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: 16
Word count: 118
He told me: "Last night I had a dream. Your hair was around my neck, it was like a black necklace round my nape and on my chest. "I was stroking your hair, and it was my own; thus the same tresses joined us forever, with our mouths touching, just as two laurels often have only one root. "And gradually I sensed, since our limbs were so entwined, that I was becoming you and you were entering me like my dream." When he'd finished, he gently put his hands on my shoulders, and gazed at me so tenderly that I lowered my eyes, quivering.
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:
- a text in French (Français) by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "La chevelure", appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Bucoliques en Pamphylie, no. 31
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 104