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by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs
Translation © by Patrick Cardy

Ouvre sur moi tes yeux si tristes et si...
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG
Ouvre [sur]1 moi tes yeux si tristes et si tendres,
Miroirs de mon étoile, asiles éclairés, 
Tes yeux plus solennels de se voir adorés, 
Temples où le silence est le secret d'entendre.

Quelle île nous conçut des strophes de la mer ? 
Onde où l'onde s'enroule à la houle d'une onde, 
Les vagues de nos soirs expirent sur le monde 
Et regonflent en nous leurs eaux couleur de chair.

Un souffle d'île heureuse et de santal soulève 
Tes cheveux, innombrables ailes, et nous fuit 
De la nuit à la rose, arôme, dans la nuit, 
Par delà ton sein double et pur, Delphes du rêve.

Parle. Ta voix s'incline avec ta bouche. Un dieu 
Lui murmure les mots de la mélancolie 
Hâtive d'être aimée autant qu'elle est jolie 
Et qui dans les ferveurs sent frémir les adieux.

Ta voix, c'est le soupir d'une enfance perdue. 
C'est ta fragilité qui vibre de mourir. 
C'est ta chair qui, toujours plus fière de fleurir, 
Toujours se croit dans l'ombre à demi descendue.

Enlaçons-nous. Le vent vertigineux des jours 
Arrache la corolle avant la feuille morte. 
Le vent qui tourne autour de la vie et l'emporte 
Sans vaincre nos désirs peut rompre nos amours.

Et s'il veut nous ravir à la vertu d'éclore, 
Que nous restera-t-il de ce jour surhumain ? 
La fièvre du front lourd, trop lourd pour une main, 
Et le songe, qui meurt brusquement à l'aurore.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   P. Cardy 

P. Cardy sets stanza 1
Naoumoff sets stanza 1

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 omitted by Naoumoff; further changes may exist not shown above.

Text Authorship:

  • by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, no title, appears in Pervigilium mortis, no. 1 [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 Patrick Cardy (1953 - 2005), "Pervigilium mortis", 1986, stanza 1 [baritone and piano], from Les Eaux de Tristesse, no. 4. [
     text verified 1 time
    ]
  • by Émile Naoumoff (b. 1962), "Tes yeux", <<2011, stanza 1. [medium voice and piano] [
     text not verified 
    ]

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

  • ENG English (Patrick Cardy) , title 1: "Pervigilium Mortis", copyright © 1986, (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: 28
Word count: 233

Pervigilium Mortis
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
  Cast your eyes, so sad and tender, on me,
  mirrors of my star, illuminated sanctuaries,
  your eyes, more solemn from seeing themselves adored,
  temples where silence is the secret of understanding. 

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 1986 by Patrick Cardy, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

    Patrick Cardy. We have no current contact information for the copyright-holder.
    If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in French (Français) by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, no title, appears in Pervigilium mortis, no. 1
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 4
Word count: 32

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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