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