by Renée de Brimont, Mme la Baronne (1880 - 1943)
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Danseuse
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG GER
Sœur des Sœurs tisseuses de violettes,
une ardente veille blémit tes joues...
Danse ! Et que les rythmes aigus dénouent
  tes bandelettes.

Suis la courbe inscrite au jardin des songes,
ploie au sein des voiles que l’air déploie,
danse, frémissante… danse ! Ta joie
  vibre et prolonge…

Vase svelte, fresque mouvante et souple,
danse, danse, paumes vers nous tendues,
pieds étroits fuyant, tels des ailes nues
  qu'Eros découple...

Sois la fleur multiple un peu balancée,
sois l'écharpe offerte au désir qui change,
sois la lampe chaste, la flamme étrange,
  sois la pensée !

Danse, doux reptile. — Tes chairs sont mates
qu’enveloppe l’ombre des nuits stériles ;
sur tes seins d’enfant j’ai versé des huiles,
  des aromates…

Danse, danse au chant de ma flûte creuse,
sœur des Sœurs divines. -- La moiteur glisse,
baiser vain, le long de ta hanche lisse...
  Vaine danseuse !

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   G. Fauré 

G. Fauré sets stanzas 1, 3-4, 6

Confirmed with Renée de Brimont, Mirages, Paris, Émile-Paul Frères, 1919, pages 63-64.

Beneath the title is the Greek inscription "ἔγω φαμι ίοπλόχων / Mοισαν εύ λάχεμεν"


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):

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Ballarina", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Dancing-girl", copyright © 2013
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Tänzerin", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Didier Pelat

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 138

Dancing‑girl
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
Sister of sisters, weaver of purple cloth!
Last night's revelry turns your cheeks pale...
Dance! Let the sharp rythms loosen
Your ribbons.

[...
...
...
...]

Slender vase, moving and supple frieze,
Dance, dance, palms held towards us,
Feet close together, receding like those naked wings
That Eros cuts out.

Be one of the many flowers swaying a little,
Be the scarf offered on a whim,
Be the chaste lamp, the odd flame.
Be the thought!

[...
...
...
...]

Dance, dance to the song of my hollowed-out flute,
Sister of Sisters divine,... sweatiness sliding,
Pointless kissing along your smooth thighs...
Vain dancing-girl!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2013 by Emily Ezust

    Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

    Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.


Based on:

 

This text was added to the website: 2013-09-29
Line count: 24
Word count: 95