Tel, nu, sordide, affreux, nourri des plus vils mets, Esclave - vois, mon corps en a gardé les signes - Je suis né libre au fond du golfe aux belles lignes Où l'Hybla plein de miel mire ses bleus sommets. J'ai quitté l'île heureuse, hélas !... Ah ! si jamais Vers Syracuse et les abeilles et les vignes Tu retournes, suivant le vol vernal des cygnes, Cher hôte, informe-toi de celle que j'aimais. Reverrai-je ses yeux de sombre violette, Si purs, sourire au ciel natal qui s'y reflète Sous l'arc victorieux que tend un sourcil noir ? Sois pitoyable ! Pars, va, cherche Cléariste Et dis-lui que je vis encor pour la revoir. Tu la reconnaîtras, car elle est toujours triste.
Confirmed with José-Maria de Heredia, Les Trophées, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1893, page 47. First published in Nouvelle Revue, February 15, 1893.
Text Authorship:
- by José-María de Hérédia (1842 - 1905), "L'esclave", written 1893, appears in Les Trophées, first published 1893 [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 Ernst Alexander 'Sas' Bunge (1924 - 1980), "L'esclave", 1944, published 1990 [ medium voice and piano ], from Chants d'espoir, no. 2, Amsterdam, Éd. Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hector Michel Fraggi (1882 - 1944), "L'Esclave", published [1909] [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Henry Lemoine [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Olga Nikolayevna Chyumina (1864 - 1909) , "Раб" ; composed by Grigory Alekseyevich Alchevsky.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-06
Line count: 14
Word count: 115
Neschastny'j, zhalkij rab, polunagoj, golodny'j. Kakim teper` menya ty' vidish` pred soboj — YA takzhe sy'n strany', prekrasnoj i svobodnoj, Gde yasen svod nebes prozrachno goluboj. Eyo pokinul ya, i vot noshu ya uzy'! O, putnik, sleduya za staej lebedej, Kogda vernyosh`sya ty' otsyuda v Sirakuzy' — Molyu, snesi privet vozlyublennoj moej! Uvizhu l` ya opyat` uly'bku ust purpurny'x I blesk ochej eyo, mechtatel`no lazurny'x? Svidan`ya radost` nam uzhel` ne suzhdena? Skazhi: v dushe moej nezy'blem obraz chisty'j! O, putnik, pospeshi k zhilishhu Klearisty' — Eyo uznaesh` ty': ona vsegda grustna.
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Text Authorship:
- by Olga Nikolayevna Chyumina (1864 - 1909), "Раб" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by José-María de Hérédia (1842 - 1905), "L'esclave", written 1893, appears in Les Trophées, first published 1893
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Grigory Alekseyevich Alchevsky (1866 - 1920), "Раб" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2021-04-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 91