Georges Jean-Aubry and Manuel de Falla, Psyché : poème, 1927

The pamphlet contains a French poem by Georges Jean-Aubry (1882-1950), lavishly set to music by the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla y Matheu (1876-1946). It was first performed in Granada 1924.

The song is not a translation of any Apuleian passage, but the female singer clearly addresses a sleeping Psyche and asks her to wake up, dry her tears, and experience nature full of love. In the story, Psyche wakes up from slumber a number of times: at first after her wedding night to her mysterious husband (Cupid) in a palace of invisible voices who serve her. Another notable moment is when she wakes up after having opened Proserpina’s forbidden box of beauty. Since Proserpina is the goddess of the Underworld, Psyche falls into a deep deathlike sleep, from which only Cupid’s intervention can wake her.

The presence of the lamp in the song seems significant, since an oil lamp is important for the plot, as Psyche uses it to shine light on the face of her invisible husband, breaking the taboo and ending her marriage, and setting her on her quest to find him again. Similarly, the beautiful nature imagery, the morning setting and the female singer’s eerie voice indicate that this song may be Psyche’s wakeup call after her wedding night with Cupid.

Psyché! La lampe est morte; éveille-toi. Le jour
te considère avec des yeux noyés d'amour,
et le désir nouveau de te servir encore.
Le miroir, confident de ton visage en pleurs,
reflète, ce matin, lac pur parmi des fleurs.
Un ciel laiteux ainsi qu'une éternelle aurore.
Midi s'approche et danse, ivre sur ses pieds d'or.
Tends-lui les bras, sèche tes pleurs; dans un essor
abandonne, Psyché, la langueur de ta couche.
L'oiseau chant au sommet de l'arbre; le soleil
sourit d'aise en voyant l'universel éveil,
et le Printemps s'étire, une rose à la bouche.

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