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Le long du bois couvert de givre, je marchais; Mes cheveux devant ma bouche Se fleurissaient de petits glaçons, Et mes sandales étaient lourdes De neige fangeuse et tassée. Il me dit: "Que cherches-tu?" Je suis la trace du satyre. Ses petits pas fourchus alternent Comme des trous dans un manteau blanc. Il me dit: "Les satyres sont morts. "Les satyres et les nymphes aussi. Depuis trente ans, il n'a pas fait un hiver aussi terrible. La trace que tu vois est celle d'un bouc. Mais restons ici, où est leur tombeau." Et avec le fer de sa houe il cassa la glace De la source ou jadis riaient les naïades. Il prenait de grands morceaux froids, Et les soulevant vers le ciel pâle, Il regardait au travers.
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Le tombeau des Naïades", appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Bucoliques en Pamphylie, no. 46, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897 [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 André-Marie Cuvelier , "Le tombeau des Naïades", 1935 [ high voice and piano ], from Chansons de Bilitis, 1er recueil, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "Le tombeau des Naïades", L. 97/(90) no. 3 (1897-8) [ voice and piano ], from Chansons de Bilitis, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Cecilie Ore (b. 1954), "Le tombeau des Naïades", 1981 [ high voice and instrumental ensemble ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The tomb of the water-nymphs", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Nele Gramß) , "Das Grab der Nymphen", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Das Grab der Quellnymphen", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "La tomba delle naiadi", 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: 19
Word count: 128
I was walking along in the frost-covered woods; in front of my mouth my hair blossomed in tiny icicles, and my sandals were heavy with muddy caked snow. He asked: "What are you looking for?" "I'm following the tracks of the satyr - his little cloven hoofprints alternate like holes in a white cloak." He said: "The satyrs are dead. "The satyrs are dead, and the nymphs too. In thirty years there has not been such a terrible winter. That's the trail of a he-goat. But let's pause here, where their tomb is." With his hoe he broke the ice of the spring where the water-nymphs used to laugh. There he was, picking up large cold slabs of ice, lifting them toward the pale sky, and peering through them.
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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Le tombeau des Naïades", appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Bucoliques en Pamphylie, no. 46, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 19
Word count: 128