Soir Païen
French source:
Albert Samain
Le temple d'Adonis, en haut du promontoire,
Découpe sur fond d'or sa colonnade noire,
Et la première étoile a brillé sur la mer...
Pendant qu'un roseau pur module un lent accord
Là-bas, Pan, accoudé sur les monts se soulève
Pour voir danser pieds nus les nymphes sur la grève
Et des vaisseaux d'Asie embaument le vieux port...
Des femmes, épuisant tout bas l'heure incertaine
Causent, l'urne appuyée au bord de la fontaine,
Et des bœufs accouplés délaissent [les sillons]1...
La nuit vient parfumée aux roses de Syrie
Et Diane au croissant clair, ce soir en rêverie,
Au fond des grands bois noirs qu'argente un long rayon
Baise ineffablement les yeux d'Endymion.
Pagan Evening
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
The temple of Adonis, high up on the promontory,
Carves its black colonnade onto the gold background,
And the first star has shone upon the sea . . .
While a pure reed flutes a slow chord,
Pan, down there, elbows resting on the hills, raises himself up
To see the nymphs dance barefoot on the shore
And vessels from Asia shed their fragrance in the old harbour. . .
Women talk, using up this unsettled hour,
Leaning their urns on the fountain’s rim,
While the oxen, yoked together, forsake the furrows . . .
Night arrives, perfumed with roses of Syria,
And Diana with her bright crescent, dreaming away the evening,
Behind great black woods silvered by a long ray,
Ineffably kisses Endymion’s eyes.
Soir Païen
French source:
Albert Samain
Pagan Evening
English source:
Richard Stokes
C'est un beau soir, couleur de rose et d'ambre clair
It is a beautiful evening, light-ambered and pink,
Le temple d'Adonis, en haut du promontoire,
The temple of Adonis, high up on the promontory,
Découpe sur fond d'or sa colonnade noire,
Carves its black colonnade onto the gold background,
Et la première étoile a brillé sur la mer...
And the first star has shone upon the sea . . .
Pendant qu'un roseau pur module un lent accord
While a pure reed flutes a slow chord,
Là-bas, Pan, accoudé sur les monts se soulève
Pan, down there, elbows resting on the hills, raises himself up
Pour voir danser pieds nus les nymphes sur la grève
To see the nymphs dance barefoot on the shore
Et des vaisseaux d'Asie embaument le vieux port...
And vessels from Asia shed their fragrance in the old harbour. . .
Des femmes, épuisant tout bas l'heure incertaine
Women talk, using up this unsettled hour,
Causent, l'urne appuyée au bord de la fontaine,
Leaning their urns on the fountain’s rim,
Et des bœufs accouplés délaissent [les sillons]1...
While the oxen, yoked together, forsake the furrows . . .
La nuit vient parfumée aux roses de Syrie
Night arrives, perfumed with roses of Syria,
Et Diane au croissant clair, ce soir en rêverie,
And Diana with her bright crescent, dreaming away the evening,
Au fond des grands bois noirs qu'argente un long rayon
Behind great black woods silvered by a long ray,
Baise ineffablement les yeux d'Endymion.
Ineffably kisses Endymion’s eyes.
Composer
Philippe Gaubert
Philippe Gaubert French flautist, conductor, and a composer, primarily for the flute. Read more here.
Poet
Albert Samain
Albert Victor Samain was a French poet and writer of the Symbolist school. Born in Lille, his family were Flemish and had long lived in the town or its suburbs. At the time of the poet's birth, his father, Jean-Baptiste Samain, and his mother,…