Vos cils noirs, vos longs cils soyeux 
Ont parfois des battements d'ailes, 
Et descendent sur vos grands yeux, 
Comme un vol tremblant d'hirondelles. 

Vos paupières sont deux oiseaux 
Qui planent sur une eau dormante ; 
Et leurs cils fins sont les roseaux 
Que baigne la clarté charmante 

De vos yeux, ces étangs d'azur, 
Votre douceur et votre gloire, 
Où, le soir, dans un bleu si pur, 
[Mes]1 rêves altérés vont boire.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Jean Lahor, L'Illusion, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1897, Page 57.

Note for stanza 3, line 4: both Nos and Mes have the poet's authority. In the 1893 edition of L'Illusion, the line started with Nos. By the 1897 edition, this had been changed to Mes.
¹ Samazeuilh: "Nos"

Text Authorship:

• by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, "Madrigal", written 1875, appears in L'Illusion, in 1. Chants de l'Amour et de la Mort, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1875 [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 Germaine Caroline Corbin (1876 - 1913), "Madrigal", published 1910 [ voice and piano ], from Six Mélodies, no. 5, Paris, L. Grus & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Daniel Fleuret (1869 - 1915), "Madrigal", published 1912 [ high voice and piano ], from L'Illusion, poème en neuf chants de Jean Lahor, no. 3, Lyon, Éd. Janin Frères [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Lacombe (1837 - 1927), "Madrigal", op. 54 (Trois Mélodies) no. 3, published 1922 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], Paris, Éd. M. Rossignol [sung text not yet checked]
• by Lucien Lambotte (1888 - 1969), "Madrigal", published 1935 [ voice and piano ], from Six Mélodies sur des poèmes de Jean Lahor, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gustave Samazeuilh (1877 - 1967), "Japonnerie", 1898, published 1913 [ voice and piano ], from Deux mélodies, no. 2, Paris: Durand [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2013-06-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 71

Your black lashes, your long silken lashes
Beat sometimes like wings, 
And descend over your large eyes, 
Like a tremulous flight of swallows.
 
Your eyelids are two birds
That glide over still water;
And their fine lashes are the reeds
Bathed in the charming clearness
 
Of your eyes, those pools of azure, 
Your sweetness and your glory,
Where, at evening, in so pure a blue,
[My]1 thirsty dreams go to drink.