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Deux dames le long le long du fleuve Elles se parlent par-dessus l'eau Et sur le pont de leurs paroles La foule passe et repasse en dansant Un dieu c'est pour toi seule que le sang coule Tu reviendras Hi! oh! Là-bas Là-bas Tous les enfants savent pourquoi Passe mais passe donc Ne te retourne pas Hi! oh! là-bas là-bas Les jeunes filles qui passent sur le pont léger Portent dans leurs mains Le bouquet de demain Et leurs regards s'écoulent Dans ce fleuve à tous étranger Qui vient de loin qui va si loin Et passe sous le pont léger de vos paroles Ô Bavardes le long du fleuve Ô Bavardes ô folles le long du fleuve.
Text Authorship:
- by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Le pont", written 1917, appears in Il y a, Paris, Éd. Messein, first published 1925 [author's text not yet checked 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 Robert Caby (1905 - 1992), "Le pont", 1945 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "Le Pont", FP 131 no. 1 (1946), published 1947 [ high voice and piano ], from Deux Mélodies sur des poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, no. 1, Éd. Max Eschig [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El pont", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Laura Stanfield Prichard) , "The bridge", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 22
Word count: 118
Two women along the river They speak to each other across the water And on the bridge of their words The crowd passes back and forth, dancing A god it’s for you alone that blood flows You’ll come back Hi! Oh! Over there Over there All the children know why Pass by, but pass Do not turn back Hi! Oh! over there The young girls who pass over the slight bridge Carry in their hands The bouquet of tomorrow And their gaze pours Into this river so foreign That comes from far away [and] that goes far away And passes under the slight bridge [built] of your words Oh gossips along the river Oh gossips, oh crazy women along the river.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Stanfield Prichard, (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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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Le pont", written 1917, appears in Il y a, Paris, Éd. Messein, first published 1925
This text was added to the website: 2016-02-09
Line count: 22
Word count: 121