Text & Translation
Cantique
French source:
Maurice Maeterlinck
A tout péché qui passe,
J’ouvre au sein des étoiles
Mes mains pleines de grâces.
Il n’est péché qui vive,
Quand l’amour a parlé,
Il n’est âme qui meure,
Quand l’amour a pleuré.
Et si l’amour s’égare
Aux sentiers d’ici-bas,
Ses larmes me retrouvent
Et ne s’égarent pas.
Canticle
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
To all fleeting sins,
I open, cradled by stars,
My hands full of grace.
No sin can live
When Love has spoken,
No soul can die
When Love has wept.
And if Love goes astray
On terrestrial paths,
Its tears will find me
And not go astray.
Cantique
French source:
Maurice Maeterlinck
Canticle
English source:
Richard Stokes
A toute âme qui pleure,
To all weeping souls,
A tout péché qui passe,
To all fleeting sins,
J’ouvre au sein des étoiles
I open, cradled by stars,
Mes mains pleines de grâces.
My hands full of grace.
Il n’est péché qui vive,
No sin can live
Quand l’amour a parlé,
When Love has spoken,
Il n’est âme qui meure,
No soul can die
Quand l’amour a pleuré.
When Love has wept.
Et si l’amour s’égare
And if Love goes astray
Aux sentiers d’ici-bas,
On terrestrial paths,
Ses larmes me retrouvent
Its tears will find me
Et ne s’égarent pas.
And not go astray.
Composer
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger and her immensely gifted younger sister Lili came from a family of musicians. Boulanger joined the Paris Conservatoire aged ten, studying harmony and composition, alongside private organ lessons. Gabriel Fauré, who taught her…
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…