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Là ! je me tue à vos genoux ! Car ma détresse est infinie, Et la tigresse épouvantable d'Hyrcanie Est une agnelle [auprès]1 de vous. Oui, céans, cruelle [Clymène]2, Ce glaive qui, dans maints combats, Mit tant de Scipions et de Cyrus à bas, Va finir ma vie et ma peine ! Ai-je même besoin de lui Pour descendre aux Champs-Élysées ? Amour perça-t-il pas de flèches aiguisées Mon cœur, dès que votre œil m'eut lui ?
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 11-12.
Note: All ampersands (&) as appear in the first publication are changed to "et".
1 subsequent editions, David: "au prix"2 David: "Climène"
Text Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Dans la grotte", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 6, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Karl Heinrich David (1884 - 1951), "Air d'opéra", op. 79 no. 2, published 1942-1944 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Quatre chants, d'après des poésies de Paul Verlaine, no. 2, Zurich et Leipzig: Hug Frères & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Fernand Ochsé (1879 - 1944), "Dans la grotte", 1908, published 1913 [ voice and piano ], from Le Parc, no. 4, Berlin, Fürstner [sung text not yet checked]
- by Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892 - 1988), "Dans la grotte", KSS 37 no. 3 (1924), published 1924 [ voice and piano ], from Trois fêtes galantes de Verlaine, no. 3, London, Curwen [sung text checked 2 times]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , written 2002, first published 2002, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , "In the Grotto", written c2005, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 76
There! I take my own life at your knees! For my anguish is never-ending, Even the dreadful Hyrcanian tigress Is a ewe-lamb compared with the price you exact. Yes, here and now, cruel Clymène, This two-edged sword that, in many a battle, brought down so many Scipios and Cyruses, Is to bring my life and my sorrow to an end! Do I need him To go down to the Champs Elysées? Did love not pierce my heart with sharpened arrows As soon as your eye lit upon me?
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with an original Microsoft Word Document provided by Alistair Hinton.
Translation of title "Dans la grotte" = "In the grotto"
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Hopkins (1952 - 2007), 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 Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Dans la grotte", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 6, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869
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 page: Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-08-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 88