Petite cascade
Language: French (Français)
Nymphe, se revêtant toujours
de ce qui la dénude,
que ton corps s'exalte pour
l'onde ronde et rude.
Sans repos tu changes d'habit,
même de chevelure ;
derrière tant de fuite, ta vie
reste présence pure.
Confirmed with The Complete French Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, Saint Paul: Greywolf Press, 1986, Page 104.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 35
Little Waterfall
Language: English after the French (Français)
Nymph, always dressing again
in that which strips you bare,
let your body be excited for
the water, round and rough.
Without respite you change your clothes,
even your hair;
behind so much fleeing, your life
remains pure presence.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (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.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2025-09-03
Line count: 8
Word count: 39
