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Text & Translation

Madrigal triste
French source: Charles Baudelaire

Que m'importe que tu sois sage ?
Sois belle ! et sois triste ! Les pleurs
Ajoutent un charme au visage,
Comme le fleuve au paysage ;
L'orage rajeunit les fleurs.

Je t'aime surtout quand la joie
S'enfuit de ton front terrassé ;
Quand ton cœur dans l'horreur se noie ;
Quand sur ton présent se déploie
Le nuage affreux du passé.

Je t'aime quand ton grand œil verse
Une eau chaude comme le sang ;
Quand, malgré ma main qui te berce,
Ton angoisse, trop lourde, perce
Comme un râle d'agonisant.

J'aspire, volupté divine !
Hymne profond, délicieux !
Tous les sanglots de ta poitrine,
Et crois que ton cœur s'illumine
Des perles que versent tes yeux !

Sad madrigal
English translation © Richard Stokes

What do I care if you be wise?
Be beautiful! and be sad! Tears
Add charm to your face,
Like a river adorns a landscape;
Flowers are refreshed by storms.

I love you best when joy
Vanishes from your vanquished brow;
When your heart drowns in sorrow;
When an atrocious cloud from the past
Settles on your present.

I love you when your wide-open eyes
Shed water as warm as blood;
When, despite my hand that cradles you,
Your too oppressive anguish breaks through,
Like the death-rattle of a dying man.

I breathe in – O divine rapture!
O deep and delicious hymn! –
All the sobbing of your breast,
And I believe your heart will glow
From the pearls that well from your eyes!

Madrigal triste
French source: Charles Baudelaire

Sad madrigal
English source: Richard Stokes

Que m'importe que tu sois sage ?
What do I care if you be wise?
Sois belle ! et sois triste ! Les pleurs
Be beautiful! and be sad! Tears
Ajoutent un charme au visage,
Add charm to your face,
Comme le fleuve au paysage ;
Like a river adorns a landscape;
L'orage rajeunit les fleurs.
Flowers are refreshed by storms.

Je t'aime surtout quand la joie
I love you best when joy
S'enfuit de ton front terrassé ;
Vanishes from your vanquished brow;
Quand ton cœur dans l'horreur se noie ;
When your heart drowns in sorrow;
Quand sur ton présent se déploie
When an atrocious cloud from the past
Le nuage affreux du passé.
Settles on your present.

Je t'aime quand ton grand œil verse
I love you when your wide-open eyes
Une eau chaude comme le sang ;
Shed water as warm as blood;
Quand, malgré ma main qui te berce,
When, despite my hand that cradles you,
Ton angoisse, trop lourde, perce
Your too oppressive anguish breaks through,
Comme un râle d'agonisant.
Like the death-rattle of a dying man.

J'aspire, volupté divine !
I breathe in – O divine rapture!
Hymne profond, délicieux !
O deep and delicious hymn! –
Tous les sanglots de ta poitrine,
All the sobbing of your breast,
Et crois que ton cœur s'illumine
And I believe your heart will glow
Des perles que versent tes yeux !
From the pearls that well from your eyes!

Composer

Rita Strohl

Rita Strohl (née La Villette, 1865-1941) was a composer who defies classification. Her father was a military man and amateur cellist, her mother a painter, Elodie Jacquier. The precociously gifted Strohl studied piano at the Conservatoire de Paris,…

Poet

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Pierre Baudelaire was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil), expresses the changing nature of…

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