The spy | Pale spy of Love

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire

Translation © by Korin Kormick

L'Espionne

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG GER

Pâle espionne de l'Amour
Ma mémoire à peine fidèle
N'eut pour observer cette belle
Forteresse qu'une heure un jour

Tu te déguises
                À ta guise
Mémoire espionne du cœur
Tu ne retrouves plus l'exquise
Ruse et le coeur seul est vainqueur

Mais la vois-tu cette mémoire
Les yeux bandés prête à mourir
Elle affirme qu'on peut l'en croire
Mon coeur vaincra sans coup férir

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "L'espionne", appears in Calligrammes - Poèmes de la paix et de la guerre, in 5. Obus couleur de lune, first published 1918 [author's text not yet checked 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 Robert Caby (1905 - 1992), "L'espionne", 1939, published 1991 [ voice and piano ], Éd. de l'AARC (Association des Amis de Robert Caby) [sung text not yet checked]
by Émile Naoumoff (b. 1962), "L'espionne", <<2011 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "L'Espionne", FP 140 no. 1 (1948), published 1948 [ baritone and piano ], from Calligrammes, no. 1, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Korin Kormick) , "The spy", copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Julia Henning) , "Die Spionin", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-10-12
Line count: 13
Word count: 64

The spy

Language: English after the French (Français)

 Pale spy of Love
 My memory scarcely faithful
 Had to observe this beautiful
 Fortress only one hour one day
 
 You disguise yourself
 In your guise
 Spying memory of the heart
 You will no longer find again the exquisite
 Trick and the heart alone is victorious
 
 But do you see this memory
 Eyes blindfolded, ready to die
 It affirms that one can believe in it
 My heart will conquer without bloodshed

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2002 by Korin Kormick, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "L'espionne", appears in Calligrammes - Poèmes de la paix et de la guerre, in 5. Obus couleur de lune, first published 1918
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2003-10-12
Line count: 13
Word count: 71