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Songs of Bilitis
Song Cycle by Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950)
View original-language texts alone: Chansons de Bilitis
Mère inépuisable, incorruptible, créatrice, née la première, engendrée par toi-même, conçue de toi-même, issue de toi seule et qui te réjouis en toi, Astarté ! Ô perpétuellement fécondée, ô vierge et nourrice de tout, chaste et [lascive]1, pure et jouissante, ineffable, nocturne, douce, respiratrice du feu, écume de la mer ! Toi qui accordes en secret la grâce, toi qui unis, toi qui aimes, toi qui saisis d'un furieux désir les races multipliées des bêtes sauvages, et joins les sexes dans les forêts. [Ô Astarté irrésistible, entends-moi, prends-moi, possède-moi, o Lune! et treize fois, chaque année, arrache a mes entrailles la libation de mon sang !]2
Authorship:
- by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Hymne à Astarté", written 1894, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Épigrammes dans l'Île de Chypre, no. 99, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sarah Daughtrey) , "Hymn to Astarte", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Hymnus auf Astarte", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
1 Koechlin: "désireuse"
2 Koechlin:
Ô Astarté irrésistible, soit que tu imposes la douleur, soit que tu delivres dans la joie, entends-moi, prends-moi, arrache de mon corps bienheureux les libations sanglantes !
Researcher for this page: Sarah Daughtrey
Mother inexhaustible, incorruptible, crea- tress, born thy first, engendered by thyself and by thyself conceived, issue of thyself alone and seeking joy within thyself, Astarte! Oh perpetually fecund, virgin and nurse of all, chaste and desirous, pure and reveling, ineffable, nocturnal, sweet, breather of fire, foam of the sea! You who accordest grace in secret, you who unite, you who love, you who seize with furious desire the multiplied races of savage beasts and couple the sexes in the woods. Oh, irresistible Astarte! so be it that you impose sadness, so be it that you deliver joy, hear me, take me, take from my blissful body the bloody libations!
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Sarah Daughtrey, (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 Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Hymne à Astarté", written 1894, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Épigrammes dans l'Île de Chypre, no. 99, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
Go to the single-text view
Note: this is a translation of Koechlin's version.
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 109
La nuit s'éfface. Les étoiles s'éloignent. Voici que les dernières courtisanes sont rentrées avec les amants. Et moi, dans la pluie du matin, j'écris ces vers sur le sable. Les feuilles sont chargées d'eau brillante. Des ruisseaux à travers les sentiers entraînent la terre et les feuilles mortes. La pluie, goutte à goutte, fait des trous dans ma chanson. Oh! que je suis triste et seule ici! Les plus jeunes ne me regardent pas; [les plus âgés m'ont oublieé]1. [C'est bien. Ils apprendront] mes vers, et les enfants de leurs enfants. Voilà ce que ni Myrtalê, ni Thaïs, ni Glykére ne se diront, le jour où leurs belles joues seront creuses. Ceux qui aimeront après moi chanteront mes strophes ensemble.
Authorship:
- by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "La pluie au matin", written 1894, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Épigrammes dans l'Île de Chypre, no. 154, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sarah Daughtrey) , "Morning rain", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Marvin J. Ward) , "The Morning Rain", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Morgenregen", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
1 Koechlin: "et les plus âgés m'oublient"
2 Koechlin: "Mais tous ils sauront"
Researcher for this page: Sarah Daughtrey
The night is fading. The stars are far away. Now the last courtesans have all gone home with their lovers. And I, in the morning rain, I write these verses on the sand. The leaves are loaded down with shining water. The streams that go across carry earth and dead leaves. The rain, drop by drop, makes holes in my song. Oh! how sad and lonely I am here! The youngest do not look at me; and the oldest forget me. But all will know my verses, and the children of their children. Here is something neither Myrtale, nor Thais, nor Glykera will say, the day their lovely cheeks grow saggy with age. Those who will love after me will sing my songs together.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Sarah Daughtrey, (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 Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "La pluie au matin", written 1894, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Épigrammes dans l'Île de Chypre, no. 154, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 124
Chantez un chant funèbre, muses Mytiléniennes, chantez! La terre est sombre comme un vêtement de deuil et les arbres jaunes frissonnent comme des chevelures coupées. Héraïos! ô mois triste et doux! les feuilles tombent [doucement comme la neige;]1 le soleil est plus pénétrant dans la forêt éclaircie... Je n'entends plus rien que le silence. Voici qu'on a porté au tombeau Pittakos chargé d'années. Beaucoup sont morts, que j'ai connus. Et celle qui vit est pour moi comme si elle n'etait plus. [Celui-ci est le dixième automne que j'ai vu mourir sur cette plaine.]2 Il est temps aussi que je disparaisse. Pleurez avec moi, muses Mytiléniennes, pleurez [sur mes pas!]2!
Authorship:
- by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Chant funèbre", written 1894, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Élégies à Mytilène, no. 98, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sarah Daughtrey) , "Funeral song", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Grabgesang", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
1 Koechlin: "tombent, neige dorée"
2 omitted by Koechlin.
Researcher for this page: Sarah Daughtrey
Sing a funeral song, Mytilenian muses, sing! The earth is dark like a mourning cloak and the yellow trees tremble like shorn tresses. Heraios! oh sad and gentle month! the leaves fall, snow gilded, the sun is more penetrating in the forest clearing... I hear no longer anything but silence. Here one carried to his tomb Pittakos, down with years. Many are dead, that I knew. And she who lives is, to me, like she who is no more. It is time also for me to disappear Weep with me, Mytilenian muses, weep!
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Sarah Daughtrey, (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 Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Chant funèbre", written 1894, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Élégies à Mytilène, no. 98, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 93
Les masses noires des arbres ne bougent pas plus que des montagnes. Les étoiles emplissent un ciel immense. Un air chaud comme un souffle humain caresse mes yeux et mes joues. Ô Nuit qui enfantas les Dieux! comme tu es douce sur mes lèvres! comme tu es chaude dans me cheveux! comme tu entres en moi ce soir, et comme je me sens grosse de tout ton printemps! Les fleurs qui vont [fleurir]1 vont toutes naitre de moi. Le vent qui respire est mon haleine. Le parfum qui passe est mon désir. Toutes les étoiles sont dans mes yeux. Ta voix, est-ce le bruit de la mer, est-ce le silence de la plaine? Ta voix, je ne la comprends pas, mais elle me jette la tête aux pieds et mes larmes lavent mes deux mains.
Authorship:
- by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Hymne à la nuit", written 1894, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Épigrammes dans l'Île de Chypre, no. 100, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sarah Daughtrey) , "Hymn to the night", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Hymne an die Nacht", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
1 Koechlin: "fleurir cette nuit"
Researcher for this page: Sarah Daughtrey
The black masses of the trees move no more than do the mountains. The stars are crowded in an immense sky. A breeze warm as a human breath caresses my cheeks and my eyes. Oh Night who gave birth to the Gods! how sweet you are upon my lips! how warm you are in my hair! how you enter into me this night, and I how I feel large with all your spring! The flowers which are going to bloom will be born of me. The wind which breathes is my breath. The perfume which wafts is my desire. All the stars are in my eyes. Your voice, is it the noise of the sea, or is is the silence of the plain? Your voice, I do not understand it, but it dizzies me, and my tears bathe my two hands.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Sarah Daughtrey, (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 Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Hymne à la nuit", written 1894, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Épigrammes dans l'Île de Chypre, no. 100, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 19
Word count: 141
Sous les feuilles noires des lauriers, sous les fleurs amoureuses des roses, c'est ici que je suis couchée, moi qui sus tresser le vers au vers, et faire fleurir le baiser. [J'ai grandi sur]1 la terre des nymphes; j'ai vécu dans l'île des amies; je suis morte dans l'île de Kypris. C'est pourquoi mon nom est illustre et ma stèle frottée d'huile. Ne me pleure pas, toi qui t'arrêtes: on m'a fait de belles funérailles: les pleureuses se sont arraché les joues; on a couché dans ma tombe mes miroirs et mes colliers. Et maintenant, sur les pâles prairies d'asphodèles, je me promène, ombre impalpable, et le souvenir de ma vie terrestre est la joie de ma vie souterraine.
Authorship:
- by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Dernière épitaphe", written 1894, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Le Tombeau de Bilitis, no. 158, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sarah Daughtrey) , "Last epitaph", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Letzte Grabinschrift", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
1 Koechlin: "Je suis née dans"
Researcher for this page: Sarah Daughtrey
Beneath the black leaves of the laurel, beneath the amorous blooms of the roses, it is here that I lay, I who could weave verses together, and make kisses bloom. I was born in the land of the nymphs; I was experienced on the isle of lovers; I died on the island of Kypris. This is why my name is distinguished and my column (stele) rubbed with oil. Do not weep for me, you who have stopped here: they made my funeral beautiful: the mourners scratched their cheeks; they laid my mirrors and necklaces in my tomb. And now, on the pale prairies of asphodel, I walk, an impalpable shadow, and the memory of my earthly life is the joy of my underworld existence.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Sarah Daughtrey, (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 Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Dernière épitaphe", written 1894, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Le Tombeau de Bilitis, no. 158, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 124