Le spectre de la rose

Soulêve ta paupière close
Qu'effleure un songe virginal;
Je suis le spectre d'une rose
Que tu portais hier au bal.
Tu me pris encore emperlée
Des pleurs d'argent de l'arrosoir,
Et, parmi la fête étoilée,
Tu me promenas tout le soir.

Ô toi qui de ma mort fus cause,
Sans que tu puisses le chasser,
[Toute la nuit]1 mon spectre rose
À ton chevet viendra danser.
Mais ne crains rien, je ne réclame
Ni messe ni De Profundis;
Ce léger parfum est mon äme,
Et j'arrive du du paradis.

Mon destin fut digne d'envie,
[Pour avoir un trépas]2 si beau,
Plus d'un aurait donné sa vie,
[Car j'ai ta gorge pour]3 tombeau,
Et sur l'albâtre où je repose
Un poëte avec un baiser
Écrivit: "Ci-gît une rose
Que tous les rois vont jalouser."

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Berlioz: "Toutes les nuits"
² Berlioz: "Et pour avoir un sort"
³ Berlioz: "Car sur ton sein j'ai mon"

Authorship

by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier (1811-1872) , "Le spectre de la rose", 1837, from La Comédie de la Mort, published 1838

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by François Emmanuel Joseph Bazin (1816-1878) , "Le spectre de la rose", published 1845 [soprano and piano], Paris, S. Richault
by Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) , "Le spectre de la rose", op. 7 no. 2 (1856) [voice and orchestra], from Les Nuits d'Été, no. 2, also set in German
by Paul Bertrie , "Le spectre de la rose", published 1873 [high voice and piano], Paris, Aymard Dignat
by Patrick Burgan (1960-) , "Le spectre de la rose", H. 83A (1995), published 2001 [mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano], Paris, Jobert
by Gaston Doin (1878-1962) , "Le spectre de la rose", published 1951 [voice and piano], from Quelques émaux et camées, no. 2, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc
by Cornelis (Dronsberg) van der Linden (1876-1964) , "Le spectre de la rose"
by de Lowenthal, Mme. , "Le spectre de la rose"
by Henri Maréchal (1842-1924) , "Le spectre de la rose", published 1894 [high voice and piano], from Deux mélodies, no. 1, Paris, E. Deplaix
by Alfred Mutel , "Le spectre de la rose", published 1864 [high voice and piano], from the collection 60 Mélodies avec accompagnement de piano (1883-1886), 1^er volume, no. 25, Paris, E. & A. Girod
by Édouard Pascal , "Le spectre de la rose", published 1874 [soprano or tenor and piano], from 25 Morceaux de chant, 2^ème recueil, no. 19.
by Felipe Pedrell (1841-1922) , "Le spectre de la rose", published 1877 [high voice and piano], from Consolations - 12 Mélodies sur des poésies de Théophile Gautier, no. 12, Milan: Francesco Lucca
by Émile Pessard (1843-1917) , "Le spectre de la rose", 1873, published 1873. [medium voice and piano]
by Jean Pierre Poupard (1901-1989) , "Le spectre de la rose", 1930 [medium voice and piano], from Deux mélodies romantiques sur la rose, no. 2, under the pseudonym Henri Sauguet ;
by Jean Theodore Radoux (1835-1911) , "Fantaisie -- Le spectre de la rose", published 1875 [voice and piano], from Vingt mélodies, no. 17.
by Ferdinand Raynal , "Rêve d'une rose", published 1878 [voice and piano], Bordeaux, Emile Marchand
by Jérôme Sétian , "Le spectre de la rose", 2012.

by Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) , "Der Geist der Rose", op. 7 no. 2, published 1894 [voice and orchestra], from Die Sommernächte. Sechs Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Orchester, no. 2, Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann, also set in French

ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The ghost of the rose", copyright ©
ITA Italian (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Lo spettro della rosa", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

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