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Le soir qu'Amour vous fit en la salle descendre Pour danser d'artifice un beau ballet d'amour, Vos yeux, bien qu'il fût nuit, ramenèrent le jour, Tant ils surent d'éclairs par la place répandre. Le ballet fut divin, qui se soulait reprendre, Se rompre, se refaire et, tour dessus retour, Se mêler, s'écarter, se tourner à l'entour, Contre-imitant le cours du fleuve de Méandre. Ores il était rond, ores long, or' étroit, Or en pointe, en triangle, en la façon qu'on voit L'escadron de la grue évitant la froidure. Je faux, tu ne dansais, mais ton pied voletait Sur le haut de la terre; aussi ton corps s'était Transformé pour ce soir en divine nature.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "Le soir qu'Amour vous fit en la salle descendre", appears in Le Second Livre des Sonnets pour Hélène, no. 30, first published 1578 [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 Robert Herberigs (1886 - 1974), "Le soir qu'Amour", 1953 [ mixed chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "Ballet", FP 38 no. 3 (1924), published 1925 [ high voice and piano or orchestra ], from Poèmes de Ronsard, no. 3, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Florent Schmitt (1870 - 1958), "Le soir qu'Amour", op. 100 no. 4 (1942), published 1942 [ voice and piano ], from Quatre Poèmes de Ronsard, no. 4, Paris, Éd. Durand [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The night that Eros in the Ballet Room", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: LaDonna Manternach
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 114
Am Abend, als dich Amor in den Saal gebeten, auf dass du kunstreich gibst dem Liebestanz dich hin, da strahlten deine Augen sonngleich, wie es schien, erhellten alles Dunkel, das schon eingetreten. Der Tanz war himmlisch und es war ihm eigen, dass man sich dreht, sich trennt, dann nähert sich einander, in stetem Wechsel, ständig neuem Reigen, als wiederholte man das Fließen des Mäander. In Reihe nun, dann eng beisamm’, im Kreise, als Konus jetzt, im Dreieck, in der Weise wie Kraniche gen warmen Süden ziehn. Ich irre mich, du tanztest nicht, es strebte dein Fuß empor, und auch dein Körper schwebte an diesem Abend göttergleich dahin.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "Ballet" = "Ballet"Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2017 by Bertram Kottmann, (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.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585), "Le soir qu'Amour vous fit en la salle descendre", appears in Le Second Livre des Sonnets pour Hélène, no. 30, first published 1578
This text was added to the website: 2017-06-24
Line count: 14
Word count: 107