by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907)
Translation by Dezső Kosztolányi (1885 - 1936)
Le vase où meurt cette vervaine
Language: French (Français)
Le vase où meurt cette vervaine D'un coup d'éventail fut fêlé ; Le coup dut l'effleurer à peine, Aucun bruit ne l'a révélé. Mais la légère meurtrissure, Mordant le cristal chaque jour, D'une marche invisible et sûre En a fait lentement le tour. Son eau fraîche a fui goutte à goutte, Le suc des fleurs s'est épuisé ; Personne encore ne s'en doute, N'y touchez pas, il est brisé. Souvent aussi la main qu'on aime Effleurant le coeur, le meurtrit ; Puis le cœur se fend de lui-même, La fleur de son amour périt ; Toujours intact aux yeux du monde, Il sent croître et pleurer tout bas Sa blessure fine et profonde : Il est brisé, n'y touchez pas.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), title 1: "Le vase brisé", title 2: "Le vase brisé", appears in Stances et Poèmes, in 1. Stances, in La Vie intérieure, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1866 [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 Jean Absil (1893 - 1974), "Le vase où meurt cette verveine", op. 64 no. 2 (1944) [ medium voice and piano ], from Le chapeau chinois - trois airs extraits de la comédie musicale, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Léonard Amelot (1811 - 1881), "Le Vase brisé", published [1876] [ medium voice and piano ], from Six Mélodies, no. 2, Paris, Éd. F. Schoen [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eugène Biaggini , "Le Vase brisé", published [1881] [ mezzo-soprano or tenor and piano ], from Six mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
- by César Franck (1822 - 1890), "Le vase brisé", FWV. 84 (1879), published 1900 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Anna Galliné , "Le Vase brisé", published [1912] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edmond Hippeau (1849 - 1921), "Le Vase brisé", op. 64, published [1908] [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. E. Fromont [sung text not yet checked]
- by Léopold Ketten (1846 - 1932), "Le Vase brisé" [ voice and piano ], from Dix mélodies, recueil 2, no. 5, Lausanne, Éd. Foetisch Frères [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julie Legoux, Baronne (1842 - 1891), as Gilbert des Roches, "Le vase brisé", published [1879] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Choudens [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean Eugène Gaston Lemaire (1864 - 1928), "Le vase brisé", published 1917 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Marcel Mercier [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Maquet , "Le Vase brisé", <<1887 [ medium voice and piano ], from Huit Mélodies, no. 4, Éd. Choudens Fils [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mathilde Martinon , "Le vase où meurt" [ medium voice and piano ], from Chansons tristes, no. 4, Éd. B. Roudanez [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georges Mathias (1826 - 1910), "Le vase brisé", published 1889 [ high voice and piano ], from Six mélodies, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Durand & Schoenewerck [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin (1862 - 1901), "Le vase brisé", op. 17 (Three songs) no. 2, published 1892 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Émile Paladilhe (1844 - 1926), "Le vase brisé", 1873 [ medium voice and piano ], Ed. G. Hartmann [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Edgar Pierre Joseph Tinel (1854 - 1912), "Le vase brisé", op. 28 no. 1 (1884), published 1889 [ voice and piano ], from Mélancolie. Deux pièces pour chant et piano, no. 1, Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Pauline Viardot-García (1821 - 1910), "Le vase brisé" [ medium voice and piano ], from Viardot mélodies, no. 5, Éd. G. Miran & Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Marie Jean Albert Widor (1844 - 1937), "Le Vase brisé", op. 43 no. 2 [ medium voice and piano ], from Quarante mélodies, no. 20, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Aleksei Nikolayevich Apukhtin (1841 - 1893) [an adaptation] ; composed by Anton Stepanovich Arensky, Mikhail Nikolayevich Ofrosimov.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Karel Čapek) , "Puklá váza"
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Karel Čapek) , "Puklá váza"
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "The broken vase", copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Amy Pfrimmer) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Amy Pfrimmer) , "The broken vase", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Otto Manninen) , "Särkynyt maljakko"
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Dezső Kosztolányi) , "A törött váza"
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Gyula Vargha) , "A törött váza"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 115
A törött váza
Language: Hungarian (Magyar) after the French (Français)
Hol a verbéna haldokol ma, a kristályváza megrepedt. Egy legyező épp csak súrolta, még zaj se hallatszott, s beteg. De a kicsiny karc egyre jobban harapta az üvegfalat, és láthatatlan és titokban és biztosan tovább haladt. Vize lassanként csepegett ki a senyvedő virág körött. Mi történt itt, nem sejti senki. Ne nyúljatok hozzá: törött. Szívünkhöz is így ér a drága és megkarcolja hirtelen. A szív tovább hasad, virága elhull az édes szerelem. Az emberek vélik, ép még, de benn szivünk sír és sajog, mert érzi mély-mély repedését. Törött: hozzá ne nyúljatok.
Text Authorship:
- by Dezső Kosztolányi (1885 - 1936), "A törött váza" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839 - 1907), title 1: "Le vase brisé", title 2: "Le vase brisé", appears in Stances et Poèmes, in 1. Stances, in La Vie intérieure, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1866
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-07-13
Line count: 20
Word count: 91