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by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786 - 1859)

Riant portrait, tourment de mon désir
Language: French (Français) 
Riant portrait, tourment de mon désir,
Muet Amour, si loin de ton modèle !
  Ombre imparfaite du plaisir,
  Tu seras pourtant plus fidèle.

De ta gaîté je me plains aujourd'hui ;
Mais si jamais il cesse de m'entendre,
  À toi je me plaindrai de lui,
  Et tu me paraîtras plus tendre.

Si tu n'as pas, pour aller à mon cœur,
Son œil brûlant et son parler de flamme,
  Par un accent doux et trompeur,
  Tu n'égareras pas mon âme.

Sans trouble, à toi, je livre mon secret.
S'il était là, je fuirais vite, vite.
  Je suis seule... Ah ! riant portrait,
  Que n'es-tu celui que j'évite !

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Les Œuvres poétiques de Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, Grenoble, Presses universitaires de Grenoble, 1973.


Text Authorship:

  • by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786 - 1859), "Le Portrait" [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 Luigi Denza (1846 - 1922), "Riant portrait", published c1892, Milan, G. Ricordi & C. [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2025-03-31
Line count: 16
Word count: 103

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