by
Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor
Le Sphinx
Language: French (Français)
Il est auprès du Nil un Sphinx de granit rose,
Qui, depuis six mille ans immobile en sa pose,
Regarde à l’horizon les races se lever
Pour passer et mourir et ne rien achever.
Ses lèvres ont gardé leur sourire morose ;
Il a vu dans la mort s’écrouler toute chose,
Il sait que du néant rien ne se peut sauver,
Et, par la nuit grandi, le Sphinx semble rêver.
Des étoiles d’argent s’épanche une lumière
Impassible. La bête avec ses yeux de pierre
Contemple fixement les astres sans émoi :
Et j’ai cru sous leurs froids regards l’entendre dire :
« Astres qui, sachant tout, gardez votre sourire,
Vous êtes donc aussi sans âme, ainsi que moi ? »
Confirmed with Jean Lahor, OEuvres de Jean Lahor; L’illusion, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 5íème édition, 1906, p.337
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):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Sphinx", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2023-05-23
Line count: 14
Word count: 116
The Sphinx
Language: English after the French (Français)
There is beside the Nile a Sphinx of pink granite,
Which, frozen in its pose for six thousand years,
Has watched on the horizon the nations rise
Just to pass by, and die, and achieve nothing.
Its lips have retained their joyless smile;
It has seen all things collapse in death,
It knows that nothing can save itself from oblivion,
And, magnified by the night, the Sphinx seems to dream.
From the silvery stars an impassive light
Pours forth. The beast with its eyes of stone
Stares fixedly at the stars without emotion:
And under their cold gaze I seemed to hear it say:
"Stars who, knowing all, retain your smile,
So you are also, like me, without a soul?"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, "Le Sphinx"
This text was added to the website: 2025-06-27
Line count: 14
Word count: 120
