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Quel est donc ce baiser humide et sans haleine?

from La Com​é​die de la Mort (2021) for tenor and piano by Thomas Oboe Lee

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lyrics

LA TRÉPASSÉE.
Quel est donc ce baiser humide et sans haleine,
Cette bouche sans lèvres est-ce une bouche humaine,
        Est-ce un baiser vivant?
O prodige! A ma droite, à ma gauche, personne.
Mes os craquent d'horreur, toute ma chair frissonne
        Comme un tremble au grand vent.

The dead girl:
What is the damp and breathless kiss I feel? That lipless mouth, is it a human one? Is this a living kiss? Oh, wonder! None to right or left of me! With horror my bones do quake; my whole flesh quivers as quakes the aspen when blows the wind.

LE VER.
Ce baiser c'est le mien: je suis le ver de terre;
Je viens pour accomplir le solennel mystère.
        J'entre en possession;
Me voilà ton époux, je te serai fidèle.
Le hibou tout joyeux fouettant l'air de son aile
        Chante notre union.

The worm:
Mine is the kiss; the earth-worm I, here to fulfill the solemn mystery. Possession now I take. Thy husband I’ve become, and faithful sure will be. The gladsome owl, with strong wing the air beating, sings our wedding song.

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Thomas Oboe Lee Cambridge, Massachusetts

Thomas Oboe Lee was born in China in 1945. He lived in São Paulo, Brazil, for six years before coming to the United States in 1966. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, he studied composition at the New England Conservatory and Harvard University. He has been a member of the music faculty at Boston College since 1990. ... more

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