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Mon cœur, tremblant des lendemains, Est comme un oiseau dans tes mains Qui s'effarouche et qui frissonne. Il est si timide qu'il faut Ne lui parler que pas trop haut Pour que sans crainte il s'abandonne. Un mot suffit à le navrer, Un regard en lui fait vibrer Une inexprimable amertume. Et ton haleine seulement, Quand tu lui parles doucement, Le fait trembler comme une plume. Il t'environne ; il est partout. Il voltige autour de ton cou, Il palpite autour de ta robe, Mais si furtif, si passager, Et si subtil et si léger, Qu'à toute atteinte il se dérobe. Et quand tu le ferais souffrir Jusqu'à saigner, jusqu'à mourir, Tu pourrais en garder le doute, Et de sa peine ne savoir Qu'une larme tombée un soir Sur ton gant taché d'une goutte.
N. Boulanger sets stanzas 1-4, 7-8
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Albert Victor Samain (1858 - 1900), "Viole", appears in Au jardin de l'Infante, in L'urne penchée, no. 3 [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 Nadia Boulanger (1887 - 1979), "Mon cœur", 1906, stanzas 1-4,7-8 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Irène Fuerison (1875 - 1931), "Viole", op. 72 (1920) [ voice, piano and violoncello ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alfred André Simon Kullmann (1875 - 1963), "Viole", <<1917 [ medium voice and piano ], from Sept mélodies - 1ère série, no. 1, Paris, Éd. L. Grus & Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julien Naudy , "Sur la Viole", <<1910 [ voice and piano ], from Mélodies, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Paray (1886 - 1979), "Viole", 1913 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacques Guillaume de Sauville de la Presle (1888 - 1969), "Viole" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marcel Rémy , "Viole", published 1935 [ medium voice and piano ], from Deux Mélodies, no. 2, Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Viole", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-07-07
Line count: 24
Word count: 133
My heart, nervous about the future, is like a bird held in your hands frightened and quivering. It is so timid that you must not speak to it except very softly so that it can relax without fear. One word is enough to distress it, one glance sets in vibration an inexpressible bitterness. And your breathing alone, when you speak to it gently, makes it tremble like a feather. It surrounds you, it is everywhere. It flutters about your neck, it quivers about your dress, but so furtively, so fleetingly, so subtly and so lightly that it eludes all capture. And if you caused it to suffer to the point of bleeding, or dying, you could still be unsure about that and know nothing of its pain except for a teardrop that fell one evening, onto your glove, and left a spot.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2018 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: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Albert Victor Samain (1858 - 1900), "Viole", appears in Au jardin de l'Infante, in L'urne penchée, no. 3
This text was added to the website: 2018-01-22
Line count: 24
Word count: 142