Une Sainte en son auréole,
Une Châtelaine en sa tour,
Tout ce que contient la parole
Humaine de grâce et d'amour.

La note d'or que fait entendre
[Un cor dans le lointain des bois]1 des bois,
Mariée à la fierté tendre
Des nobles Dames d'autrefois;

Avec cela le charme insigne
D'un frais sourire triomphant
Éclos [de]2 candeurs de cygne
Et des rougeurs de femme-enfant;

Des aspects nacrés, blancs et roses,
Un doux accord patricien:
Je vois, j'entends toutes ces choses
Dans son nom Carlovingien.

About the headline (FAQ)

View text without footnotes
¹ Fauré: "Le cor dans les lointains"
² Fauré: "dans les"
Note: Verlaine's young fiancee was named Mathilde, a name of Germanic origin. The Germanic dynasty known as the Carolingian included Charlemagne, and is closely associated with a great artistic flowering.
Note provided by Shawn Thuris

Text Authorship:

• by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), no title, appears in La bonne chanson, no. 8, first published 1870 [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 Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Une Sainte en son auréole", op. 61 no. 1, published 1892-3 [ voice and piano ], from La bonne chanson, no. 1, Paris, Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Una santa en la seva aurèola", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Shawn Thuris) , "A saint within her halo", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "A saint enhaloed", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Didier Pelat

This text was added to the website: 2003-10-20
Line count: 16
Word count: 86

A saint enhaloed,
Milady in the castle tower,
all that human words can express
of grace and love;

The golden note
of a horn blown far off in the woods,
wedded to the tender pride
of noble ladies of olden days;

With that the signal charm
of a fresh, triumphant smile
born of a swan's whiteness
and a woman-child's blush;

White and rose aspects of mother-of-pearl,
sweet patrician accord.
All this I see and hear
in your Carolingian name.