by
Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
Beauté des femmes, leur faiblesse, et...
Language: French (Français)
Available translation(s): ENG
Beauté des femmes, leur faiblesse, et ces mains pâles
Qui font souvent le bien et peuvent tout le mal.
Et ces yeux, où plus rien ne reste d'animal
Que juste assez pour dire : « assez » aux fureurs mâles
Et toujours, maternelle endormeuse des râles,
Même quand elle ment, cette voix ! Matinal
Appel, ou chant bien doux à vêpre, ou frais signal,
Ou beau sanglot qui va mourir au pli des châles ...
Hommes durs ! Vie atroce et laide d'ici-bas !
Ah ! que du moins, loin des baisers et des combats,
Quelque chose demeure un peu sur la montagne,
Quelque chose du cœur enfantin et subtil,
Bonté, respect ! Car qu'est-ce qui nous accompagne,
Et vraiment, quand la mort viendra, que reste-t-il ?
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Qi Feng Wu) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2012-02-05
Line count: 14
Word count: 127
Beauty of women, their frailty, and...
Language: English  after the French (Français)
Beauty of women, their frailty, and their pale hands
Which often do good and can do all evil.
And those eyes, in which nothing remains of the animal self
Except enough to say “Enough” to male fury.
And still, [those] maternal sleepy groans,
Even when it speaks lies, that voice! A wakeup
Call, or [the] sweet sound of vespers, or new ideas,
Or a beautiful sob which dies away in the pleat of a shawl ...
Rough men! Atrocious and corrupt life down here!
Ah, that at least, far from kisses and from battles,
Something like [a woman] could last awhile on a mountainside,
Something with a childlike and unknowable heart,
Goodness, respect! Because what is it that stays with us,
And truly, when death comes, what remains?
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Qi Feng Wu, (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.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2023-07-06
Line count: 14
Word count: 128