Your eye is blue | Your eye is blue, and when you laugh

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by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836 - 1870)

Translation © by Laura Claycomb

Tu pupila es azul, y cuando ríes

Language: Spanish (Español)

Our translations: ENG FRE GER

  Tu pupila es azul, y cuando ríes,
Su claridad süave me recuerda
El trémulo fulgor de la mañana
	Que en el mar se refleja.

  Tu pupila es azul, y cuando lloras,
Las [trasparentes]¹ lágrimas en ella
Se me figuran gotas de rocío
	Sobre una violeta.

  Tu pupila es azul, y si en su fondo,
Como un punto de luz radia una idea,
Me parece en el cielo de la tarde
	¡Una perdida estrella!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Turina

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Obras de Gustavo A. Bécquer, tomo segundo, Rimas, Madrid: Imprenta de T. Fortanet, 1871, page 264.

Note: inspired by Byron's I saw thee weep; sometimes given the title "Imitación de Byron"

¹ J. Turina: "transparentes" Notes: Spelling variants in first publication
The spelling variant "ries" in line 1 has been changed to "ríes".
The spelling variant "süave" in line 2 has been preserved to indicate the poetic diaeresis pronunciation.
The spelling variant "rádia" in line 12 has been changed to "radia".

Text Authorship:

by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836 - 1870), no title, appears in Rimas, no. 13, Madrid, Imprenta de T. Fortanet, first published 1871 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Joaquín Turina (1882 - 1949), "Tu pupila es azul", op. 81 no. 2 (1933), published 1935 [ soprano and piano ], from Tres poemas, no. 2, Madrid : UME [sung text checked 2 times]

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

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , John Versmoren , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 75

Your eye is blue

Language: English after the Spanish (Español)

Your eye is blue, and when you laugh
its soft brightness reminds me
Of the shimmering glint of morning
that is reflected in the sea.

Your eye is blue, and when you cry,
the transparent tears in it
seem to me drops of dew 
upon a violet.

Your eye is blue, and if in its depths
like a point of light an idea radiates,
it seems to me a
lost star in the evening sky!  Ah!

Text Authorship:

Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2012 by Laura Claycomb, (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 Spanish (Español) by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836 - 1870), no title, appears in Rimas, no. 13, Madrid, Imprenta de T. Fortanet, first published 1871
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2012-09-24
Line count: 12
Word count: 76