by
Armand Renaud (1836 - 1895)
Le marchand de perles m'a dit
Language: French (Français)
Le marchand de perles m'a dit :
Ton front veut-il une couronne ?
Tout mon bazar qui resplendit,
Pour ta prunelle, je le donne.
Le marchand de roses reprit :
Laisse les perles chez l'orfèvre ;
Tout mon royaume qui fleurit,
Je l'échange contre ta lèvre.
Le poète au rêve étoilé
Dit à son tour : vivante flamme,
De ton cœur donne-moi la clé,
Et dans mes chants je te proclame.
Mais que m'importe aucun trésor ?
Je garde cœur, lèvre et prunelle
Pour quelqu'un n'ayant pas encor
Soupçonné ma plainte éternelle.
Perles, roses, vers, à mes yeux,
Cela ne vaut pas un grain d'orge.
Du bien-aimé j'aimerais mieux
Que l'étrier broyât ma gorge.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Les nuits persanes par Armand Renaud, Paris, Alphonese Lemerre, 1870, pages 77-78.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Xavier Henri Napoleon Leroux (1863 - 1919), "Le délire", published c1886 [ high voice and piano ], from La Solitaire, mélodies Persanes de Armand Renaud, no. 2, Paris, Éd. G. Hartmann [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Youssef Khan Nazare-Aga, dit Kyna (1870 - 1942), "Délire", published 1906 [ high voice and piano ], from Les nuits persanes, no. 4, Paris, Éd. E. Demets [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2016-11-30
Line count: 20
Word count: 108
The pearl merchant said to me
Language: English after the French (Français)
The pearl merchant said to me:
“Does your forehead desire a crown?
I would give all my bazaar which shines
For your gaze.”
The rose merchant [retorted]:
“Leave the pearls at the smith’s;
I would trade all my realm which blooms
For your lips.”
The poet in the starry dream
Said on his walk: “Lively flame,
Give me the key to your heart
And I will extol you in my songs.”
But what does any treasure matter to me?
I am saving [my] heart, lips, and gaze
For someone [who has] not yet
Doubted my eternal complaint.
Pearls, roses, verse,
These are not worth a grain of barley to my eyes.
I would love best the sweetheart
Who crushes the stirrup [at] my throat.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of title(s):
"Délire" = "Delirium"
"Le délire" = "Delirium"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 by Garrett Medlock, (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:
This text was added to the website: 2019-05-02
Line count: 20
Word count: 124
