Le Ciel couvert d'un manteau riche, 
Ardent et fou, vêtu de bleu, 
Le Ciel tourne comme un derviche,
Tourne sans fin, ivre de Dieu.

Sous son écharpe parfumée,
Belle en l'ivresse de sa chair,
La Terre aussi, comme une aimée,
Tourne sans fin, tourne dans l'air.

Par un rythme vague bercée 
En un long rêve musical,
Danse ainsi, danse, ô ma pensée,
Tourne, tourne d'un pas égal.

About the headline (FAQ)

First published in Melancholia, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, 1868, in which it was titled "Fantaisie persane"; later published in 1875 in L'Illusion, in which it was titled "Fantaisie orientale".

Confirmed with L'Illusion, Troisième édition, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1893, p. 173.

Text Authorship:

• by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, appears in Mélancholia, no. 14, appears in L'Illusion, in 2. Chants panthéistes, first published 1868 [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 Claudius Blanc (1854 - 1900), "Fantaisie orientale" [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies Persanes, no. 3, from Mélodies Orientales, no. 6, Édition Rouart, Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Bordes (1863 - 1909), "Fantaisie persane", op. 8 no. 3, first performed 1890 [ high voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies sur des poèmes de Jean Lahor, no. 3, Éd. Le Bailly, O. Bornemann [sung text not yet checked]

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

• CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2014-08-03
Line count: 12
Word count: 67