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by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818 - 1894)
Translation © by Peter Low
Les Roses d'Ispahan
Language: French (Français)
Les roses d'Ispahan dans leur gaîne de mousse, Les jasmins de Mossoul, les fleurs de l'oranger, Ont un parfum moins frais, ont une odeur moins douce, Ô blanche Léïlah! que ton souffle léger. Ta lèvre est de corail et ton rire léger Sonne mieux que l'eau vive et d'une voix plus douce. Mieux que le vent joyeux qui berce l'oranger, Mieux que l'oiseau qui chante au bord d'un nid de mousse. Mais le subtile odeur des roses dans leur mousse, La brise qui se joue autour de l'oranger Et l'eau vive qui flue avec sa plainte douce Ont un charme plus sûr que ton amour léger! Ô Leïlah! depuis que de leur vol léger Tous les baisers ont fui de ta lèvre si douce Il n'est plus de parfum dans le pâle oranger, Ni de céleste arome aux roses dans leur mousse. L'oiseau, sur le duvet humide et sur la mousse, Ne chante plus parmi la rose et l'oranger; L'eau vive des jardins n'a plus de chanson douce, L'aube ne dore plus le ciel pur et léger. Oh! que ton jeune amour, ce papillon léger, Revienne vers mon coeur d'une aile prompte et douce. Et qu'il parfume encor [les fleurs]1 de l'oranger, Les roses d'Ispahan dans leur gaîne de mousse.
G. Fauré sets stanzas 1, 2, 4, 6
1 Fauré: "la fleur"
Text Authorship:
- by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818 - 1894), "Les Roses d'Ispahan", appears in Poèmes tragiques, first published 1884 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ernest de Behault (1882 - 1928), "Les roses d'Ispahan", 1915, published [1915] [ high voice and piano ], Bruxelles, Éd. de l’Art Belge [sung text not yet checked]
- by Philippe Bellenot (1860 - 1928), "Les roses d'Ispahan", published 1907 [ reciter and piano ], Éd. Durand [sung text not yet checked]
- by César Antonovich Cui (1835 - 1918), "Les roses d'Ispahan", op. 54 (Cinq mélodies) no. 3, published 1890, Leipzig, Édition M.P. Bélaïeff [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Les Roses d'Ispahan", op. 39 no. 4 (1884), published 1885, orchestrated 1891, stanzas 1,2,4,6 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Georges Flé , "Les Roses d'Ispahan", published 1898 [ medium voice and piano ], from Poésies mises en musique, no. 4, Édition du Mercure de France [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alain Marie Jacques , "Les Roses d'Ispahan", published 2012 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Émile Paladilhe (1844 - 1926), "Les roses d'Ispahan" [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Les roses d’Isfahan", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The roses of Ispahan", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Elaine Marie Ortiz-Arandes) , "Die Rosen von Ispahan", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Elena Mariani) , "Le rose d'Ispahan", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Alfredo García) , "Las rosas de Ispahan", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (José Miguel Llata) , "Las rosas de Ispahan", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 210
The roses of Ispahan
Language: English after the French (Français)
The roses of Ispahan in their sheath of moss, the jasmines of Mosul, the orange blossoms, have a fragrance less fresh, an aroma less sweet, O pale Leila, than your light breath! Your lips are coral and your light laughter has a softer and lovelier sound than rippling water, lovelier than the joyous breeze that rocks the orange-tree, lovelier than the bird that sings near its nest of moss. But the subtle fragrance of the roses in their moss, the breeze that plays around the orange-tree and the spring-water flowing with its plaintive murmur have a more certain charm than your fickle love! O Leila, ever since in their airy flight all the kisses have fled from your lips so sweet, there is no longer any fragrance from the pale orange-tree, no heavenly aroma from the roses in the moss. The bird, in its nest of moist feathers or moss, sings no more among the roses and orange-trees; the springs in the gardens have lost their soft song; and dawn no longer gilds the pure and weightless sky. Oh, if only your youthful love, that light butterfly, would return to my heart on swift and gentle wings, and perfume once more the orange blossom and the roses of Ispahan in their sheath of moss.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Peter Low, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818 - 1894), "Les Roses d'Ispahan", appears in Poèmes tragiques, first published 1884
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 214