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"There is not much that I can do, For I've no money that's quite my own!" Spoke up the pitying child - A little boy with a violin At the station before the train came in, - "But I can play my fiddle to you, And a nice one 'tis, and good in tone!" The man in the handcuffs smiled; The constable looked, and he smiled, too, As the fiddle began to twang; And the man in the handcuffs suddenly sang With grimful glee: "This life so free Is the thing for me!" And the constable smiled, and said no word, As if unconscious of what he heard; And so they went on till the train came in - The convict, and boy with the violin.
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "At the Railway Station, Upway", appears in Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses, first published 1922 [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "At the railway station, Upway", op. 52 no. 7 (1953), published 1954 [ high voice, piano ], from Winter words, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Christopher Park) , "À la gare d’Upway", copyright © 2022, (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: 18
Word count: 123
« Il n'y a pas grand-chose que je puisse faire, car je n'ai pas un sou vaillant ! » Disait l'enfant plein de pitié - Un petit garçon avec un violon À la gare avant l'arrivée du train, - « Mais je peux te jouer de mon violon, Et c’en est un beau, bien accordé ! » L'homme aux menottes a souri ; Le policier a regardé, et il a souri, aussi, Le violon a commencé à résonner ; Et l'homme aux menottes a soudainement chanté Avec une joie sinistre : « Cette vie si libre Est faite pour moi ! » Et le policier a souri, et n'a pas dit un mot, Comme s'il était inconscient de ce qu'il avait entendu ; Et ils continuèrent ainsi jusqu'à l'arrivée du train - Le condamné, et le garçon avec le violon.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2022 by Christopher Park, (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 English by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "At the Railway Station, Upway", appears in Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses, first published 1922
This text was added to the website: 2022-06-26
Line count: 18
Word count: 130