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C'est le chien de Jean de Nivelle Qui mord sous l'œil même du guet Le chat de la mère Michel ; François-les-bas-bleus s'en [égaie]1. La Lune à l'écrivain public Dispense sa lumière obscure Où Médor avec Angélique Verdissent sur le pauvre mur. Et [voici venir La Ramée]2 Sacrant en bon soldat du Roi. Sous son habit blanc mal famé, Son cœur ne se tient pas de joie, Car la boulangère... -- Elle ? -- Oui [dame]3 ! Bernant Lustucru, son vieil homme, A tantôt couronné sa flamme... Enfants, Dominus vobiscum ! Place ! en sa longue robe bleue Toute en satin qui fait frou-frou, C'est une impure, palsembleu ! Dans sa chaise qu'il faut qu'on loue, Fût-on philosophe ou grigou, Car tant d'or s'y relève en bosse Que ce luxe insolent bafoue Tout le papier de monsieur Loss ! Arrière ! robin crotté ! place, Petit courtaud, petit abbé, Petit poète jamais las De la rime non attrapée ! Voici que la nuit vraie arrive... Cependant jamais fatigué D'être inattentif et naïf François-les-bas-bleus s'en [égaie]1.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Romances sans paroles, Paris: Léon Vanier, Libraire-Éditeur, 1891, pages 10-11.
1 David: "égaye"2 error in David score: "voiçi venir La Ramé"
3 error in David score: "dam"
Text Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), no title, appears in Romances sans paroles, in Ariettes oubliées, no. 6 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Alfred Cagé , "C'est le chien de Jean de Nivelle", published [1911] [ voice and piano ], Paris, Demets [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karl Heinrich David (1884 - 1951), "Scène d'opéra bouffe", op. 79 no. 4, published 1942-1944 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Quatre chants, d'après des poésies de Paul Verlaine, no. 4, Zurich et Leipzig: Hug Frères & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Marcel Noël (1857 - 1935), "C'est le chien de Jean de Nivelle", published 1905 [ voice and piano ], from Dix mélodies, no. 8, Paris, Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Willem Pijper (1894 - 1947), "Romance sans paroles", published 1919 [ voice and orchestra ], Amsterdam [sung text not yet checked]
- by R. Talba-Pilzer , "C'est le chien de Jean de Nivelle", published 1931 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Schneider [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2012-02-04
Line count: 32
Word count: 169
Jean de Nivelle's dog is here biting Mother Michel's cat under the very eye of the watchman. François Bluesocks finds it hilarious! To aid the public scribe, the Moon dispenses its dark light making Médor and his wife Angélique turn green on the humble wall. And here comes the swordsman La Ramée cursing like a good royal soldier. Under his ill-famed white clothing his heart is bursting with joy, because the baker's wife... (She? - Yes forsooth, Bernant Lustucru is her old man) ... has recently rewarded his flame... (Children, the Lord be with you!) Make way! In her long blue robe all made of rustling satin, gadzooks! an impure woman comes, in her sedan-chair that you have to praise, be you philosopher or skinflint, for there's so much gold embossing that this insolent luxury mocks all the banknotes of John Law: Get back, filthy lawyer, make way, little midget, little priest, and little poet never weary of seeking the rhyme that escapes you. Now the real night is arriving... However, never tired of being inattentive and naïve, François Bluesocks finds it all hilarious!
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 by Peter Low, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), no title, appears in Romances sans paroles, in Ariettes oubliées, no. 6
This text was added to the website: 2022-10-31
Line count: 32
Word count: 182