Diane, Séléné
French source:
Jean de la Ville de Mirmont
Qui reflète vers nous, par ta face déserte,
Dans l’immortel ennui du calme sidéral,
Le regret d’un soleil dont nous pleurons la perte.
Ô lune, je t’en veux de ta limpidité
Injurieuse au trouble vain des pauvres âmes,
Et mon cœur, toujours las et toujours agité,
Aspire vers la paix de ta nocturne flamme.
Diana, Selene
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Reflecting on us, from your deserted face,
In the eternal tedium of sidereal calm,
The regret of a sun whose loss we lament.
O moon, I begrudge you your limpidity,
Mocking the fruitless commotion of wretched souls,
And my heart, ever weary and ever uneasy,
Longs for the peace of your nocturnal flame.
Translations by Richard Stokes, from A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Diane, Séléné
French source:
Jean de la Ville de Mirmont
Diana, Selene
English source:
Richard Stokes
Diane, Séléné, lune de beau métal,
Diana, Selene, moon of beautiful metal,
Qui reflète vers nous, par ta face déserte,
Reflecting on us, from your deserted face,
Dans l’immortel ennui du calme sidéral,
In the eternal tedium of sidereal calm,
Le regret d’un soleil dont nous pleurons la perte.
The regret of a sun whose loss we lament.
Ô lune, je t’en veux de ta limpidité
O moon, I begrudge you your limpidity,
Injurieuse au trouble vain des pauvres âmes,
Mocking the fruitless commotion of wretched souls,
Et mon cœur, toujours las et toujours agité,
And my heart, ever weary and ever uneasy,
Aspire vers la paix de ta nocturne flamme.
Longs for the peace of your nocturnal flame.
Composer
Gabriel Fauré
"Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. Among his…
Poet
Jean de la Ville de Mirmont
ean de La Ville de Mirmont was a French poet who died at the age of 27 defending his country during World War I, at Verneuil. Jean de La Ville de Mirmont was born into a Protestant Bordeaux family to Henri and Sophie Malan. He was one of six…