Attente
French source:
Maurice Maeterlinck
À l'horizon de mes regards ;
Exaucez mes rêves épars
Entre les lèvres de vos anges!
En attendant sous mes yeux las,
Et sa bouche ouverte aux prières
Éteintes entre mes paupières
Et dont les lys n'éclosent pas ;
Elle apaise au fond de mes songes,
Ses seins effeuillés sous mes cils,
Et ses yeux clignent aux périls
Éveillés au fil des mensonges.
Expectation
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
On the horizon of my gaze;
Satisfy my scattered dreams
Between the lips of your angels!
Waiting beneath my weary eyes,
Mouth open in prayers
Extinguished behind my eyelids
Whose lilies never open;
My soul brings peace to the depths of my dreams,
Its breasts bared beneath my lashes
And its eyes blink at the perils
Awoken through the thread of lies.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Attente
French source:
Maurice Maeterlinck
Expectation
English source:
Richard Stokes
Mon âme a joint ses mains étranges
My soul has folded its strange hands
À l'horizon de mes regards ;
On the horizon of my gaze;
Exaucez mes rêves épars
Satisfy my scattered dreams
Entre les lèvres de vos anges!
Between the lips of your angels!
En attendant sous mes yeux las,
Waiting beneath my weary eyes,
Et sa bouche ouverte aux prières
Mouth open in prayers
Éteintes entre mes paupières
Extinguished behind my eyelids
Et dont les lys n'éclosent pas ;
Whose lilies never open;
Elle apaise au fond de mes songes,
My soul brings peace to the depths of my dreams,
Ses seins effeuillés sous mes cils,
Its breasts bared beneath my lashes
Et ses yeux clignent aux périls
And its eyes blink at the perils
Éveillés au fil des mensonges.
Awoken through the thread of lies.
Composer
Lili Boulanger
Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) is often described as one of the most gifted composers of the twentieth century, however, her promise was cut short by early death. She achieved a degree of posthumous renown which is exceptional among women…
Poet
Maurice Maeterlinck
Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was a Fleming, but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911 "in appreciation of his many-sided literary activities, and…