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by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)

Il faut m'aimer!... Je suis l'universel...
Language: French (Français) 
Il faut m'aimer!... [ Je suis l'universel Baiser,
Je suis cette paupière et je suis cette lèvre
Dont tu parles, ô cher malade, et cette fièvre
Qui t'agite, c'est moi toujours! Il faut oser

M'aimer! Oui, mon amour monte sans biaiser
Jusqu'où ne grimpe pas ton pauvre amour de chèvre,
Et t'emportera, comme un aigle vole un lièvre,
Vers des serpolets qu'un ciel cher vient arroser! 

Ô ma nuit claire! ô tes yeux dans mon clair de lune! 
Ô ce lit de lumière et d'eau parmi la brune!
Toute cette innocence et tout ce reposoir!

Aime-moi! Ces deux mots sont mes verbes suprêmes,
Car étant ton Dieu tout-puissant, je peux vouloir,
Mais je ne veux d'abord que pouvoir que tu m'aimes!]1

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   C. Tournemire 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 omitted by Tournemire.

Text Authorship:

  • by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), no title, appears in Sagesse, in Sagesse II, in 4. Mon Dieu m'a dit, no. 3, first published 1880 [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 Charles Tournemire (1870 - 1939), "Il faut m'aimer!... Je suis l'universel Baiser", alternate title: "Il faut m'aimer !", op. 34 no. 3, published 1921 [ voice and piano ], from Sagesse, no. 3, Lyon, Janin Frères [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 122

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