Could I ever understand from where your ennui originates, Sirens

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.

If you wish to reprint translations, please use the Reprint Basket (upper right hand corner).

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

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

Translation © by Laura Stanfield Prichard

Sachè‑je d'où provient, Sirènes, votre...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Sachè-je d'où provient, Sirènes, votre ennui 
Quand vous vous lamentez, au large, dans la nuit ? 
Mer, je suis, comme toi, plein de voix machinées 
Et mes vaisseaux chantants se nomment les années.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• L. Durey

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Les sirènes", written 1910, appears in Le Bestiaire, ou Cortège d'Orphée, no. 25, 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), "Les Sirènes", op. 1b no. 25 (1945-48), published 1994 [ voice and piano ], from Le Cortège d’Orphée, no. 25, Édition Durand & Fils [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Caby (1905 - 1992), "Sirènes", 1948 [ medium voice and piano ], from Bestiaire, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Alain Corbellari (b. 1967), "Les Sirènes", first performed 1992 [ bass-baritone and piano ], from Le bestiaire bis, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Durey (1888 - 1979), "Les Sirènes", op. 17a no. 25 (1919), from Le Bestiaire, no. 25 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Laura Stanfield Prichard) , 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: 32

Could I ever understand from where your...

Language: English after the French (Français)

Add this translation to the Basket

Could I ever understand from where your ennui originates, Sirens,
When you lament, [your voices] carried on the wind, in the night? 
O Sea, I am, like you, full of machinating voices 
And my singing vessels are called years.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles
"Les Sirènes" = "The sirens"
"Sirènes" = "Sirens"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Stanfield 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Les sirènes", written 1910, appears in Le Bestiaire, ou Cortège d'Orphée, no. 25, first published 1911
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-08-25
Line count: 4
Word count: 39