In the Shadows | And what, on this April morning

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by Charles van Lerberghe (1861 - 1907)

Translation © by Faith J. Cormier

Dans la pénombre

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG GER

À quoi, dans ce matin d'avril,
Si douce et d'ombre enveloppée,
La chère enfant au cœur subtil
Est-elle ainsi tout occupée ?

La trace blonde de ses pas 
Se perd parmi les grilles closes ; 
Je ne sais pas, je ne sais pas. 
Ce sont d'impénétrables choses. 

Pensivement, d'un geste lent,
En longue robe, en robe a queue,
Sur le soleil au rouet blanc
A filer la laine bleue.

A sourire à son rêve encor,
Avec ses yeux de fiancée,
A tresser des feuillages d'or
Parmi les lys de sa pensée.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• G. Fauré

G. Fauré sets stanzas 1, 3-4

Confirmed with van Lerberghe, Charles, Entrevisions, suivi de Poèmes posthumes, Paris, G. Crès, 1923, pages 24-25.

Text Authorship:

by Charles van Lerberghe (1861 - 1907), "Dans la pénombre", written 1898, appears in Entrevisions, in 1. Jeux et songes, no. 9, Bruxelles, Éd. Lacomblez, first published 1898 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Dans la pénombre", op. 106 no. 6 (1914), published 1915, stanzas 1,3-4 [ medium voice and piano ], from Le jardin clos, no. 6, Paris, Éd. Durand & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "A la penombra", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Pieter van der Woel) , "In het halfdonker nog", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "In the Shadows", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Im Zwielicht", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Didier Pelat

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 89

In the Shadows

Language: English after the French (Français)

And what, on this April morning,
so soft and shadowy,
is this child with the far-seeing heart
doing so busily?






Thoughtfully, slowly,
in her long dress, she's spinning
in the sunshine on a white spindle
blue wool

She smiles as she dreams
of her betrothed,
braiding golden leaves
among the lilies of her thoughts.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Faith J. Cormier, (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 van Lerberghe (1861 - 1907), "Dans la pénombre", written 1898, appears in Entrevisions, in 1. Jeux et songes, no. 9, Bruxelles, Éd. Lacomblez, first published 1898
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 54