Hebe | When Hebe, with her eyes lowered, blushing and artless

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by Louise-Victorine Ackermann, née Choquet (1813 - 1890)

Translation © by Peter Low

Hébé

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Les yeux baissés, rougissante et candide,
Vers leur banquet quand Hébé s'avançait.
Les Dieux charmés tendaient leur coupe vide,
Et de nectar l'enfant la remplissait.

Nous tous aussi, quand passe la jeunesse,
Nous lui tendons notre coupe à l'envi.
Quel est le vin qu'y verse la Déesse?
Nous l'ignorons; il enivre et ravit.

Ayant souri dans sa grâce immortelle,
Hébé s'éloigne; on la rappelle en vain.
Longtemps encor sur la route éternelle,
Notre oeil en pleurs suit l'échanson divin.

Text Authorship:

by Louise-Victorine Ackermann, née Choquet (1813 - 1890), "Hébé", written 1860?, appears in Contes et Poésies, Éd. Librairie L. Hachette, first published 1863 [author's text not yet checked 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 Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855 - 1899), "Hébé", subtitle: "Chanson Greque dans le mode phrygien", op. 2 (Sept mélodies) no. 6, published 1883 [ voice and piano ], Paris, J. Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]
by Lucien Darbois (1875 - 1914), "Hébé", op. 7 (Quatre Mélodies) no. 2 (<<1914) [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Peter Low) , "Hebe", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 79

Hebe

Language: English after the French (Français)

When Hebe, with her eyes lowered, blushing and artless
walked towards their banqueting-table,
the gods, enchanted, would hold out their empty cups
and the girl would fill them with nectar.

We also, all of us, when youth comes past,
jostle to hold our goblets out.
What wine does the goddess pour?
One we don't know, which exalts and enraptures.

Immortally graceful, Hebe smiles
and walks away; there's no calling her back.
For a long time still, watching the eternal road,
we follow with tearful gaze the divine cup-bearer.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Peter Low, (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 Louise-Victorine Ackermann, née Choquet (1813 - 1890), "Hébé", written 1860?, appears in Contes et Poésies, Éd. Librairie L. Hachette, first published 1863
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 88