by
Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs
La chevelure
Language: French (Français)
Our translations: ENG GER GER ITA
Il m'a dit: « Cette nuit, j'ai rêvé.
J'avais ta chevelure autour de mon cou.
J'avais tes cheveux comme un collier noir
autour de ma nuque et sur ma poitrine.
« Je les caressais, et c'étaient les miens ;
et nous étions liés pour toujours ainsi,
par la même chevelure, la bouche sur la bouche,
ainsi que deux lauriers n'ont souvent qu'une racine.
« Et peu à peu, il m'a semblé,
tant nos membres étaient confondus,
que je devenais toi-même,
ou que tu entrais en moi comme mon songe. »
Quand il eut achevé,
il mit doucement ses mains sur mes épaules,
et il me regarda d'un regard si tendre,
que je baissai les yeux avec un frisson.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "La chevelure", L. 97/(90) no. 2 (1897-8) [ voice and piano ], from Chansons de Bilitis, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Aimée Strohl (1865 - 1941), "La chevelure", published 1900 [ high voice and piano ], from Bilitis, Poème en 12 chants, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Toledo & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The hair", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Nele Gramß) , "Das Haar", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Das Haar", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "La chioma", copyright © 2005, (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: 16
Word count: 117
The hair
Language: English after the French (Français)
He told me: "Last night I had a dream.
Your hair was around my neck,
it was like a black necklace
round my nape and on my chest.
"I was stroking your hair, and it was my own;
thus the same tresses joined us forever,
with our mouths touching,
just as two laurels often have only one root.
"And gradually I sensed,
since our limbs were so entwined,
that I was becoming you
and you were entering me like my dream."
When he'd finished,
he gently put his hands on my shoulders,
and gazed at me so tenderly
that I lowered my eyes, quivering.
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:
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 104