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Eau-de-vie, au-delà À l'heure du plaisir Choisir n'est pas trahir Je choisis celui-là. Je choisis celui-là Qui sait me faire rire [D'un mot par-ci par-là,]1 Comme on fait pour écrire Comme on fait pour écrire Il va [de-ci de-là]2 Sans que [j'ose]3 lui dire J'aime bien ce jeu-là J'aime bien ce jeu-là Qu'un souffle fait finir. [À l'heure du plaisir]4 Je choisis ce jeu-là.
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View original text (without footnotes)1 Poulenc: "D'un doigt de-ci, de-là"
2 Poulenc: "par-ci, par-là"
3 Poulenc: "j'osais"
4 Poulenc: "Jusqu'au dernier soupir"
Text Authorship:
- by Louise de Vilmorin (1902 - 1969), "Choisir n'est pas trahir", written 1937, appears in Fiançailles pour rire, no. 24, Paris, Éd. NRF Gallimard, first published 1939 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "Au-delà", FP 91 no. 2 (1937), published 1938 [ soprano and piano ], from Trois Poèmes de Louise de Vilmorin, no. 2, Éditions Durand [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Beyond", copyright © 2019, (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: 16
Word count: 68
Water of life! Beyond! At the hour of pleasure, Choosing is not betraying, I choose that one. I choose that Which can make me laugh out loud, With a finger here, there, As when one is writing. As when one is writing, It travels this way, that way, Without my daring to say to it: I love this game. I love this game, Which a single breath puts to an end, Until the last sigh, I choose this game. Water of life! Beyond! At the hour of pleasure, Choosing is not betraying, I choose that one.
Translator's notes
Line 1-1 and passim: Water of life - “Eau-de-vie” can refer to a variety of French liquors, notably Calvados.
Line 1-1 and passim: Beyond! - The sound of the words is more important than the literal meaning, and should evoke the same quality as the Beatles’ “Ob-la-di, ob-la-da.”
Line 2-3: The poet worried about the sexual innuendo in these two lines, and changed them when the poems were published separately (doigt/finger is changed to mot/word, and the line beginning “Jusqu’au" is deleted).
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 by Laura 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 Louise de Vilmorin (1902 - 1969), "Choisir n'est pas trahir", written 1937, appears in Fiançailles pour rire, no. 24, Paris, Éd. NRF Gallimard, first published 1939
This text was added to the website: 2019-12-03
Line count: 20
Word count: 96