Epitaph on a text by Malherbe | Beautiful soul who was my torch

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by François de Malherbe (1555 - 1628)

Translation © by Laura (Pranada) Sylvis

Belle âme qui fus mon flambeau

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: DUT ENG GER

Belle âme qui fus mon flambeau,
Reçois l'honneur qu'en ce tombeau
[Je suis obligé de]¹ te rendre ;
Ce que je fais te sert de peu ;
Mais au moins tu vois en la cendre
[Comme j'en conserve]² le feu.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Poulenc

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Œuvres de Malherbe, volume 1, ed. by M. L. Lalanne, Paris: Hachette, 1862, page 272.

¹ Poulenc: "Le devoir m'oblige à"
² Poulenc: "Que j'en aime encore"

Text Authorship:

by François de Malherbe (1555 - 1628), no title [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 Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "Épitaphe", FP 55 (1930), published 1930 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Rouart, Lerolle [sung text checked 1 time]

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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 6
Word count: 40

Epitaph on a text by Malherbe

Language: English after the French (Français)

Beautiful soul who was my torch,
Receive the honor that in this tomb
Duty obliges me to render to you:
What I do is of little use to you,
But at least you will see, in your ashes,
That I still love their flame.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2004 by Laura (Pranada) Sylvis, (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 François de Malherbe (1555 - 1628), no title
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2004-11-02
Line count: 6
Word count: 44