Ja no escrius més? | M’has conegut com venedor de diaris

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by Max Jacob (1876 - 1944)

Translation © by Salvador Pila

Vous n'écrivez plus?

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT ENG

- M'as-tu connu marchand d'journaux
à Barbès et sous le Métro
Pour insister vers l'Institut
il me faudrait de la vertu,
mes romans n'ont ni rang ni ronds
et je n'ai pas de caractère.

- M'as-tu connu marchand d'marrons
au coin de la rue Coquillère?
tablier rendu, l'autre est vert.

- M'as-tu connu marchand d'tickets
balayeur de W.-C.
je le dis sans fiel ni malice
aide à la foire au Pain d'Épice
défenseur au juge de Paix
officier, comme on dit office
au Richelieu et à la Paix.

Text Authorship:

by Max Jacob (1876 - 1944), "Vous n'écrivez plus ?", written 1930, appears in Rivage, recueilli dans Ballades, Paris, Édition "Les Cahiers libres", first published 1931 [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 Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "Vous n'écrivez plus?", FP 157 no. 2 (1954), published 1954 [ medium voice and piano ], from Parisiana, no. 2, Éd. Salabert [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Ja no escrius més?", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Laura Stanfield Prichard) , "Don’t you write anymore?", copyright © 2019, (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: 16
Word count: 86

Ja no escrius més?

Language: Catalan (Català) after the French (Français)

- M’has conegut com venedor de diaris
a Barbès i al Metro?
Per arribar a l'Institut
em caldria alguna virtut,
les meves novel·les no tenen cap ni peus
i em manca caràcter.

- M’has conegut com venedor de castanyes
a la cantonada de la Rue Coquillère?
Un davantal retornat, l'altre és verd.

- M'has conegut com venedor d’entrades,
netejador de lavabos?
Ho dic sense amargor ni malícia
ajudant a la Fira del Pa de Pessic
defensor davant del Jutge de Pau,
oficial, com se'n diu, de servei
al Richelieu i al Café de la Paix.

Note for stanza 3, line 5: "oficial" : El mot original francès "officier" (oficial) vol dir aquí irònicament "cambrer" o "rentaplats".

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2026 by Salvador Pila, (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 Max Jacob (1876 - 1944), "Vous n'écrivez plus ?", written 1930, appears in Rivage, recueilli dans Ballades, Paris, Édition "Les Cahiers libres", first published 1931
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-05-23
Line count: 16
Word count: 93