by
Catulle Mendès (1841 - 1909)
La gavotte
Language: French (Français)
Elle est douairière et puis faunesse,
Vieille qui n’a pas froid aux yeux;
Et naguère encore les vieux
Y redansèrent leur jeunesse.
Ses cheveux sont de neige, oui,
Mais cette perruque qui tremble
Comme de blancs papillons, semble
Un pommier frais épanoui;
Et l’on ne sait, quand la secoue
Le rythme antique et puéril,
Si c’est de décembre où d’avril
Qu’elle poudre l’oeil et la joue.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , "The gavotte", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Garrett Medlock
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2019-01-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 66
The gavotte
Language: English after the French (Français)
It is [a] dowager and then [a] faun,
An old woman who has no coldness in her eyes;
And once again the old
Redance their youth.
Its hair is made of snow, yes,
But this wig that trembles
Like white butterflies, resembles
An apple freshly blossomed;
And no one knows, when it shakes
The rhythm ancient and childish,
Whether it is December or April
With which it powders its eye and its cheek.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 by Garrett Medlock, (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:
This text was added to the website: 2019-01-11
Line count: 12
Word count: 73
