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by Stéphane Mallarmé (1842 - 1898)
Translation © by Charles Hopkins (1952 - 2007)
Apparition
Language: French (Français)
La lune s'attristait. Des séraphins en pleurs Rêvant, l'archet aux doigts, dans le calme des fleurs Vaporeuses, tiraient de mourantes violes De blancs sanglots glissant sur l'azur des corolles. -- C'était le jour béni de ton premier baiser. Ma songerie aimant à me martyriser S'enivrait savamment du parfum [de tristesse]1 Que même sans regret et sans déboire laisse La cueillaison d'un Rêve au cœur qui l'a cueilli. J'errais donc, l'œil rivé sur le pavé vieilli Quand avec du soleil aux cheveux, dans la rue Et dans le soir, tu m'es en riant apparue Et j'ai cru voir la fée au chapeau de clarté Qui jadis sur mes beaux sommeils d'enfant gâté Passait, laissant toujours de ses mains mal fermées Neiger de blancs bouquets d'étoiles parfumées.
View original text (without footnotes)
Research team for this text: Auditorium du Louvre , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
First published in the revue Lutèce, November 24-30, 1883.
1 K. Sorabji: "de la tristesse"Authorship:
- by Stéphane Mallarmé (1842 - 1898), "Apparition", written 1863, appears in Premiers poèmes, appears in Poésies, first published 1883 [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 Edmond Bailly , "Apparition", published [1894] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éditions Librairie de l'Art Indépendant [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henri-Paul Büsser (1872 - 1973), "Apparition", op. 109 no. 2, published 1948 [ high voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies, no. 2, Éd. Max Eschig [sung text not yet checked]
- by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "Apparition", L. 57/(53) (1884) [ voice and piano ], from Quatre chansons de jeunesse, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Claude Duboscq (1897 - 1938), "Apparition", 1917, published 1920 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. E. Demets [sung text not yet checked]
- by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "Apparition", op. 317 no. 1 (2021) [ voice and piano ], from Vier Lieder nach Stéphane Mallarmé, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Kaikhosru Sorabji, born Leon Dudley Sorabji (1892 - 1988), "Apparition", op. 4 no. 3, KSS 7 (1916), published 2002, first performed 2000 [ high voice and piano ], Bath, The Sorabji Archive [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Alexandre Tariot (1867 - 1943), "Apparition" [ reciter, piano, violin ], Éditions Henry Lemoine & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) [singable] (Núria Colomer) , "Aparició", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CHI Chinese (中文) (Yen-Chiang Che) , "幻影", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Laura Claycomb) (Peter Grunberg) , "Apparition", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , "Apparition", written 2002, first published 2002, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , "Apparition", written c2005, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Richard von Schaukal) , "Erscheinung"
- POL Polish (Polski) (Bronisława Ostrowska) , "Zjawa", Kraków, J. Mortkowicz, first published 1911
Research team for this text: Auditorium du Louvre , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 124
Apparition
Language: English after the French (Français)
The moon was saddened. Dreaming of weeping seraphs, Bow in hand, amid the stillness of gossamer flowers, The faint tones they drew from their viols, White sobs gliding over the blossom’s azure heart – It was the blessed day of your first kiss. My reverie, taking pleasure in my pain, Knowingly intoxicated me with the fragrance of sadness That itself[,] with neither sorrow nor bitterness[,] Abandons the harvesting of a Dream to the heart that has gleaned it. I was wandering[,] then, my eye fixed on the ancient cobbles When[,] with the sun in your hair, and in the evening light of the street, You appeared to me[,] laughing, And I thought I had seen the fairy[,] its head garlanded with light[,] Who all that time ago passed over the enchanted array of nameless desires and unheard-of delights.
Confirmed with an original Microsoft Word Document provided by Alistair Hinton.
Authorship:
- by Charles Hopkins (1952 - 2007), "Apparition", written 2002, first published 2002, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Stéphane Mallarmé (1842 - 1898), "Apparition", written 1863, appears in Premiers poèmes, appears in Poésies, first published 1883
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Another version of this text exists in the database.
Researcher for this text: Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-08-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 138