Hand overcome by the heart

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by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Main dominée par le cœur

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG GER

Main dominée par le cœur
Cœur dominé par le lion
Lion dominé par l'oiseau

L'oiseau qu'efface un nuage
Le lion que le désert grise
Le cœur que la mort habite
La main refermée en vain

Aucun secours tout m'échappe
Je vois ce qui disparaît
Je comprends que je n'ai rien
Et je m'imagine à peine

Entre les murs une absence
Puis l'exil dans les ténèbres
Les yeux purs la tête inerte.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Paul Éluard, Œuvres complètes, Vol. 1, Paris: Gallimard, 1968, Pages 1126-1127.

Text Authorship:

by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "La main le cœur le lion l'oiseau", appears in Poésie et vérité, first published 1942 [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), "Main dominée par le cœur", FP 135 (1947), published 1947 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Rouart, Lerolle [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Ingrid Schmithüsen) , "Hand überwunden durch das Herz", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 71

Hand overcome by the heart

Language: English after the French (Français)

Hand overcome by the heart
Heart overcome by the lion
Lion overcome by the bird 

The bird that a cloud obscures 
The lion that the desert intoxicates 
The heart that death inhabits
The hand closed in vain

No help everything escapes me 
I see what disappears
I understand that I have nothing 
And I barely imagine myself 

Between the walls an absence
Then exile in the darkness 
The eyes pure the head inert.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"La main le cœur le lion l'oiseau" = "The Hand the Heart the Lion the Bird"
"Main dominée par le cœur" = "Hand overcome by the heart"

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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "La main le cœur le lion l'oiseau", appears in Poésie et vérité, first published 1942
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-12-12
Line count: 14
Word count: 73