by
Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs
Hymne à Astarté
Language: French (Français)
Available translation(s): ENG GER
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
View original text (without footnotes)
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 !
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
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
Researcher for this page: Sarah Daughtrey
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 106
Hymn to Astarte
Language: English  after the French (Français)
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!
Note: this is a translation of Koechlin's version.
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.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 109