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Madame la Lune, en robe gris pâle, Dans les velours bleus et les satins verts De ses grands salons à plafond d'opale Reçoit les rimeurs de vers. Et roulant son front nimbé de topaze Parmi les coussins de nuages flous, Elle écoute avec une feinte extase Chanter son peuple de fous. Nos regrets, nos vœux, nos bonheurs, nos peines, Elle connaît tout depuis dix mille ans; [Elle a des regards qui calment les haines Et qui font des baisers blancs.]1 Pour guérir nos cœurs des tourments que sème Le sourire froid des femmes ses sœurs, Elle orne gaîment son sourire [blême]1 De caressantes douceurs. Elle sait le nom des pays du rêve, Mondes idéals que l'amour bénit, Chers Édens vers qui notre espoir s'enlève Comme un oiseau vers son nid ... Puis, lorsque s'éteint le lustre d'étoiles Qui [crépite]2 au loin dans le clair obscur, Lente, elle s'en va dégrafer ses voiles Sous ses courtines d'azur. On croit qu'elle dort, lasse et solitaire, Mais son char de nacre aux luisants essieux L'emporte en fuyant autour de la terre; Et déjà sous d'autres cieux, Madame la Lune, en robe gris pâle, Dans les velours bleus et les satins verts De ses grands salons à plafond d'opale, Reçoit les rimeurs de vers.
C. Koechlin sets stanzas 1-4, 6-8
Confirmed with Edmond Haraucourt: L'Ame Nue, Paris, G. Charpentier et Cie, éditeurs, 1885, pages 163-165.
1 omitted by Koechlin2 Koechlin: "scintille"
Authorship:
- by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941), "Dame du Ciel", subtitle: "a H. Béthune", appears in L'Âme nue, in 2. La Vie intérieure, in 1. L'Aube, no. 11 [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 Koechlin (1867 - 1950), "Dame du Ciel", op. 7 (Quatre Poèmes d'E Haraucourt) no. 3 (1894), orchestrated 1897, stanzas 1-4,6-8 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "Lady of heaven", copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Frau Luna", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Marc Lerique-Koechlin [Guest Editor] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 210
Madame Moon, in a pale-gray gown, amid the blue velvet and green satin of her opal-ceilinged salons, receives the versemakers. Rolling her topaz-haloed brow, among swarms of misty clouds, she listens in feigned ecstasy to the songs of her mad followers. Our regrets, our wishes, our joys, our pains, she's known them all for ten thousand years! [...] To heal our hearts from the torments sown by the cold smiles of women, her sisters, she gaily decks her smile with caressing sweetness. [...] When the far-off chandelier of stars goes out, she slowly unhooks the veils from her azure curtains. We think she sleeps, tired and alone, but her mother-of-pearl chariot with the shining axles takes her fleeing round the Earth, and already, under other skies, Madame Moon, in a pale-gray gown, amid the blue velvet and green satin of her opal-ceilinged salons, receives the versemakers.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2001 by Faith J. Cormier, (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:
- a text in French (Français) by Edmond Haraucourt (1856 - 1941), "Dame du Ciel", subtitle: "a H. Béthune", appears in L'Âme nue, in 2. La Vie intérieure, in 1. L'Aube, no. 11
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 28
Word count: 146