À la rivière | Belle rivière ! dans ton cours de cristal

Translation by Stéphane Mallarmé (1842 - 1898)

To the River ‑‑‑‑

Language: English

Fair river! in thy bright, clear flow
Of crystal, wandering water,
Thou art an emblem of the glow
Of beauty -- the unhidden heart --
The playful maziness of art
In old Alberto's daughter;

But when within thy wave she looks --
Which glistens then, and trembles-
Why, then, the prettiest of brooks
Her worshipper resembles;
For in his heart, as in thy stream,
Her image deeply lies --
His heart which trembles at the beam
Of her soul-searching eyes.

Authorship:

by Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849), "To the river", appears in The Raven and Other Poems, first published 1845 [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 Creighton Allen (1900 - 1969), "To the River ----", published 1928 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Elliott Griffis (1893 - 1967), "To the River ----", published 1937 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Bertram Shapleigh (1871 - 1940), "To the River ----", op. 41 (Fünf Lieder) no. 5, published 1901 [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in French (Français), a translation by Stéphane Mallarmé (1842 - 1898) , "À la rivière", appears in Les Poèmes d'Edgar Poe, first published 1889 ; composed by Albert Huybrechts.
Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Franz Hermann Schneider (1860 - 1930) ; composed by Bertram Shapleigh.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-09-29
Line count: 14
Word count: 76

À la rivière

Language: French (Français) after the English

Belle rivière ! dans ton cours de cristal 
clair et brillant, vagabonde eau, 
tu es un emblême de l'éclat 
de la beauté, -- du cœur qui ne se cache, -- 
des détours enjoués de l'art 
chez la fille du vieil Alberto ;

Mais qu'elle regarde dans ton flot, 
qui tremble soudain et resplendit --
alors le plus joli des ruisseaux 
ressemble à son adorateur ;
car dans un cœur, comme dans ta fuite, 
reste son image profonde, -- 
un cœur tremblant au rayonnement 
de ses yeux qui cherchent l'âme.

Authorship:

by Stéphane Mallarmé (1842 - 1898), "À la rivière", appears in Les Poèmes d'Edgar Poe, first published 1889 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in English by Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849), "To the river", appears in The Raven and Other Poems, first published 1845

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Albert Huybrechts (1899 - 1938), "À la rivière", 1928 [ soprano or mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Trois poèmes d'Edgar Poe, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-03-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 85