L'aube blanche
French source:
Charles van Lerberghe
Éveille-toi, le soleil luit.
Mon âme écoute, et je soulève
Un peu mes paupières vers lui.
Un rayon de lumière touche
La pâle fleur de mes yeux bleus;
Une flamme éveille ma bouche,
Un souffle éveille mes cheveux.
Et mon âme, comme une rose
Tremblante, lente, tout le jour,
S’éveille à la beauté des choses,
Comme mon cœur à leur amour.
The white dawn
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Awake, the sun is shining.
My soul listens, and I raise
My eyes a little towards it.
A ray of light touches
The pale flower of my blue eyes;
A flame awakens my mouth,
A breeze awakens my hair.
And my soul, like a rose
That is trembling and listless all day,
Awakens to the beauty of things,
As my heart awakens to their love.
L'aube blanche
French source:
Charles van Lerberghe
The white dawn
English source:
Richard Stokes
L’aube blanche dit à mon rêve:
The white dawn says to my dream:
Éveille-toi, le soleil luit.
Awake, the sun is shining.
Mon âme écoute, et je soulève
My soul listens, and I raise
Un peu mes paupières vers lui.
My eyes a little towards it.
Un rayon de lumière touche
A ray of light touches
La pâle fleur de mes yeux bleus;
The pale flower of my blue eyes;
Une flamme éveille ma bouche,
A flame awakens my mouth,
Un souffle éveille mes cheveux.
A breeze awakens my hair.
Et mon âme, comme une rose
And my soul, like a rose
Tremblante, lente, tout le jour,
That is trembling and listless all day,
S’éveille à la beauté des choses,
Awakens to the beauty of things,
Comme mon cœur à leur amour.
As my heart awakens to their love.
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
Charles van Lerberghe
Charles van Lerberghe was a Flemish (Belgian) symbolist poet writing in French. His poetry was set by Gabriel Fauré in the song cycles La chanson d'Ève and Le jardin clos. Taken from Wikipedia. To view the full article, please click here.