Elle était descendue au bas de la...

Elle était descendue au bas de la prairie,
et, comme la prairie était toute fleurie
de plantes dont la tige aime à pousser dans l'eau,
ces plantes inondées je les avais cueillies.
Bientôt, s'étant mouillée, elle gagna le haut
de cette prairie-là qui était toute fleurie.
Elle riait et s'ébrouait avec la grâce
dégingandée qu'ont les jeunes filles trop grandes.
Elle avait le regard qu'ont les fleurs de lavande.

Translation(s): ENG

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Authorship

• by Francis Jammes (1868 - 1938), no title, appears in Clairières dans le ciel, in Tristesses, no. 2, first published 1906 [ author's text checked 1 time]

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

• by Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "Elle était descendue", 1999 [high voice, flute, and piano], from Tristesses, no. 2. [
   text not verified 
  ]
• by Lili Boulanger (1893 - 1918), "Elle était descendue au bas de la prairie", 1914, published 1919 [high voice and piano or orchestra], from Clairières dans le ciel, no. 1, Ricordi [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

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

• ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , title 1: "She had gone down to the bottom of the meadow", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

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She had gone down to the bottom of the meadow

She had gone down to the bottom of the meadow, 
and because the meadow was full of flowers 
that like to grow in the water, 
I had gathered the drowned plants. 
Soon, because she was wet, she came back to the top 
of that flowery meadow. 
She laughed and moved with the lanky grace 
of girls who are too tall. 
She looked the way lavender flowers do.

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Authorship

• Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2003 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.
  
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• a text in French (Français) by Francis Jammes (1868 - 1938), no title, appears in Clairières dans le ciel, in Tristesses, no. 2, first published 1906
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Michel Bosc, Lili Boulanger. Go to the text.

Text added to the website: 2004-01-27.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:02:04
Line count: 9
Word count: 67