We shall go to the wood no more, the laurels are cut down

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by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Nous n'irons plus au bois, les lauriers...

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Nous n'irons plus au bois, les lauriers sont coupés.
Les Amours des bassins, les Naïades en groupe 
Voient reluire au soleil en cristaux découpés
Les flots silencieux qui coulaient de leur coupe.
Les lauriers sont coupés, et le cerf aux abois 
Tressaille au son du cor ; nous n'irons plus au bois.
Où des enfants joueurs riait la folle troupe
Parmi les lys d'argent aux pleurs du ciel trempés.
Voici l'herbe qu'on fauche et les lauriers qu'on coupe.
Nous n'irons plus au bois, les lauriers sont coupés.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• E. Cabaner

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Poésies complètes de Théodore de Banville, 1841-1854 , Paris, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1858, page 209.

Text Authorship:

by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), no title, written 1845, appears in Les Stalactites, no. 3 [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 Raoul Bardac (1881 - 1950), "Nous n'irons plus au bois", published 1899, Hachette [sung text not yet checked]
by Ernest Cabaner (1833 - 1881), "Nous n'irons plus au bois" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Irène Fuerison (1875 - 1931), "Nous n'irons plus au bois", op. 11 (1915) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2017-01-31
Line count: 10
Word count: 86

We shall go to the wood no more, the...

Language: English after the French (Français)

We shall go to the wood no more, the laurels are cut down.
The Cupids of the pools, the grouping of Naiads
See gleaming in the sun in jagged crystals
The silent streams that flowed from their cup.
The laurels are cut down, and the stag at bay
Trembles at the sound of the horn; we shall go to the wood no more.
Where the wild troupe of children at play laughed
Among the silver lilies moistened by tears from heaven.
Here are the grass that is scythed and the laurels that are cut.
We shall go to the wood no more, the laurels are cut down.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Nous n'irons plus au bois" = "We shall go to the wood no more"
"Nous n'irons plus aux bois" = "We shall go to the wood no more"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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 Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), no title, written 1845, appears in Les Stalactites, no. 3
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-06-25
Line count: 10
Word count: 107