by
Roland de Marès (1874 - 1955)
En Bohême était une Reine
Language: French (Français)
Available translation(s): ENG
En Bohême était une Reine,
Douce soeur du Roi de Thulé,
Belle entre toutes les Reines,
Reine par sa toute Beauté.
Le grand Trouvère de Bohême
Un soir triste d'automne roux
Lui murmura le vieux: je t'aime !... --
Âmes folles et cœurs si fous !...
Et la Très Belle toute blanche
Le doux Poète tant aima
Que sur l'heure son âme blanche
Vers les étoiles s'exhala...
Les grosses cloches de Bohême
Et les clochettes de Thulé
Chantèrent l'hosana suprême
[Pour]1 la Reine morte d'aimer...
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Roland de Marès, Ariettes douloureuses, Paris, Leon Vanier, 1893, pages 60-61.
1 Ravel: "De"
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Ballad of the queen who died of love", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , François Le Roux
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 84
Ballad of the queen who died of love
Language: English  after the French (Français)
In Bohemia1, once there was a queen,
Gentle sister to the King of Thule2,
With beauty surpassing all other queens,
Queen by her beauty alone.
The great Bohemian trouvère3
One sad evening in red autumn
Murmured the old refrain: »I love you!«
O foolish souls and crazed hearts!...
And the pure white beauty
Was so loved by the gentle poet
That at that instant her white soul
Expired and floated to the stars...
The great bells of Bohemia
And the little bells of Thule
Pealed the final Hosanna
Of the Queen [who] died of love.
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Ancient Bohemia was settled by Gallic tribes fleeing from Italian invasions. Their leaders fought alongside Hannibal, but were eventually defeated by the Romans.
2 Thule was reputed to be the northernmost island at the end of the world in ancient and medieval geographies. Thomas Weekles set a description of it in his madrigal Thule, the Period of Cosmography.
3 trouvères - Medieval poet-composers who wrote love songs in Northern French dialects (c1100-1300)
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2013 by Laura Prichard, (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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This text was added to the website: 2013-06-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 95