Ils se disent, ma colombe,
Que tu rêves, morte encore,
Sous la pierre d'une tombe :
[Mais pour l'âme qui t'adore]1,
Tu t'éveilles [ranimée]2,
Ô pensive bien-aimée !

Par les blanches nuits d'étoiles,
Dans la brise qui murmure,
Je caresse tes longs voiles,
Ta mouvante chevelure,
Et tes ailes demi-closes
Qui voltigent sur les roses !

Ô délices ! je respire
Tes divines tresses blondes !
Ta voix pure, cette lyre,
Suit la vague sur les ondes,
Et, suave, les effleure,
Comme un cygne qui se pleure !

G. Schubert sets stanzas 1, 3

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Confirmed with Théodore de Banville, Poésies complètes: Les exilés: Odelettes, Améthystes, Rimes dorées, Rondels, Les Princesses, Trente-Six Ballades Joyeuses, Paris, G. Charpentier et Cie, 1887, page 129.

¹ Gounod: "Non, tu vis que je t'adore!"; G. Schubert: "tu vis, car je t'adore!"
² Hahn: "réanimée"

Text Authorship:

• by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), "L'énamourée", written 1859, appears in Les Exilés, first published 1867 [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 Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "L'âme de la morte", CG. 398a (1860), published 1860 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "L'âme d'un ange", subtitle: "La rondinella pellegrina", op. CG. 398b (1860), published 1863 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947), "L'énamourée", 1891?, published 1892 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies - 1er volume, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Martin Lunssens (1871 - 1944), "L'énamourée" [ contralto or mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Georgine Schubert (1840 - 1878), "L'âme d'un ange", published 1880, stanzas 1,3 [ voice and piano ], from Lieder und Gesänge, Erste Folge, no. 12, Dresden, Hoffarth [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Peter Low) , no title, copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• SPA Spanish (Español) (Raedcavid De Jesús) , "La enamorada", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Erkki Pullinen

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 86

Ellos dicen, paloma mía,
que sueñas, aún muerta,
bajo la piedra de una tumba.
mas, por el alma que te adora,
te despiertas, reanimada,
oh, pensativa amada.
 
Por las blancas noches de estrellas,
en la brisa que murmura,
acaricio tus largos velos,
tu movediza cabellera
y tus alas a medio cerrar
que revolotean sobre las rosas.
 
¡Oh, qué delicias! Respiro
tus divinas trenzas rubias;
tu voz pura, esa lira,
persigue las olas sobre las aguas,
y, suavemente, las roza,
¡como un cisne que llora!