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Un garçon de conte de fée M'a fait un grand salut bourgeois En plein vent, au bord d'une allée, Debout sous l'arbre de la Loi. Les oiseaux d'arrière saison Faisaient des leurs malgré la pluie Et prise par ma déraison J'osai lui [dir]1: "Je m'ennuie." Sans dire un doux mot de menteur Le soir dans ma chambre à tristesse Il vint consoler ma pâleur. Son ombre me fit des promesses. Mais c'était un garçon de Liège, Léger, léger comme le vent Qui ne se prend à aucun piège Et court les plaines du beau temps. Et dans ma chemise de nuit, Depuis lors quand je voudrais rire Ah! beau jeune homme je m'ennuie, Ah! dans ma chemise à mourir.
Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
View original text (without footnotes)1 Vilmorin: "crier"
Text Authorship:
- by Louise de Vilmorin (1902 - 1969), "Le Garçon de Liège", written 1937, appears in Fiançailles pour rire, no. 13, 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), "Le Garçon de Liège", FP 91 no. 1 (1937), published 1938 [ soprano and piano ], from Trois Poèmes de Louise de Vilmorin, no. 1, Éditions Durand [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "The boy from Liège", 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: 20
Word count: 120
A fairy-tale boy Bowed low to me, In the wind, at the edge of an alley, Standing beneath the tree of Justice. The late autumn birds Kept themselves busy, in spite of the rain, And, seized by a foolish thought, I dared to say to him: I’m bored. Without saying a single deceitful word, In the evening, into my room of sadness, He came to console my pallor. His shadowy presence made me promises. But it was a boy from Liège, Light, light as the wind Who won’t be caught in any traps And roams the plains in good weather. And in my nightgown, Ever since then, when I’d like to laugh, Oh, handsome young man, I’m bored, Oh, in my nightgown, to death.
Translator's notes:
Title: The French phrase "de Liège” means both “from the town of Liège in Belgium” and “made of cork”
Line 1-2: "bowed low to me" - literally, “made a big bourgeois salute to me"
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), "Le Garçon de Liège", written 1937, appears in Fiançailles pour rire, no. 13, Paris, Éd. NRF Gallimard, first published 1939
This text was added to the website: 2019-12-03
Line count: 20
Word count: 124