Ibis | Yes, I'll go down to the earthy shades

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire

Translation © by Laura Prichard, Qi Feng Wu

Ibis

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Oui, j'irai dans l'ombre terreuse
Ô mort certaine, ainsi soit-il ! 
Latin mortel, parole affreuse, 
Ibis, oiseau des bords du Nil.

Notes provided by Laura Prichard and Qi Feng Wu: the Underworld is where the Shades, or spirits of the Dead, dwell in Classical Mythology. Ibises were sometimes mummified and buried with the dead, and depicted in Egyptian tomb paintings.

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Ibis", written 1908, appears in Le Bestiaire, ou Cortège d'Orphée, no. 29, first published 1911 [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 Claude Ballif (1924 - 2004), "Ibis", op. 1b no. 29 (1945-48), published 1994 [ voice and piano ], from Le Cortège d’Orphée, no. 29, Édition Durand & Fils [sung text not yet checked]
by May Breguet (1916 - 2006), "Ibis", 1992?, published 1992? [ high voice and piano ], from Bestiaire, no. 3, Bern (Switzerland), Éd. Verlag Müller & Schade AG [sung text not yet checked]
by Alain Corbellari (b. 1967), "Ibis", first performed 1992 [ bass-baritone and piano ], from Le bestiaire bis, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Durey (1888 - 1979), "Ibis", op. 17a no. 29 (1919), from Le Bestiaire, no. 29 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Laura Prichard) (Qi Feng Wu) , "Ibis", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 4
Word count: 20

Ibis

Language: English after the French (Français)

Yes, I'll go down to the earthy shades
O certain death, so be it! 
Deadly Latin [name], the dreadful word, 
Ibis, bird of the banks of the Nile.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard and Qi Feng Wu, (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 Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Ibis", written 1908, appears in Le Bestiaire, ou Cortège d'Orphée, no. 29, first published 1911
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-08-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 28