The Kangaroo | First Kangaroo, king of the kangaroos

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by Robert Desnos (1900 - 1945)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Le kangourou

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Kangourou premier, roi des kangourous,
Ayant accroché son grand sabre au clou
S’assoit dans un trône en feuilles de chou.

Sa femme arrivant, pleine de courroux,
Dans sa poche a mis ses fils et ses sous,
Ses gants, son mouchoir et ses roudoudous.

Kangourou dernier, roi des kangourous,
Avait les yeux verts et les cheveux roux.
Sa femme peignait son royal époux.

Kangourou le Roux, roi des kangourous,
Kangourou dernier, kangourou le Roux.

Text Authorship:

by Robert Desnos (1900 - 1945), "Le kangourou", appears in Pour les Enfants Sages, in Chantefables, no. 17, first published 1944 [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 Henri Barraud (1900 - 1997), "Le kangourou", op. 36 no. 5 (1945) [ medium voice and piano ], from Huit chantefables pour les enfants sages, no. 5, Éd. Françaises de Musique-Sofirad [sung text not yet checked]

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

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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2014-05-23
Line count: 11
Word count: 73

The Kangaroo

Language: English after the French (Français)

First Kangaroo, king of the kangaroos, 
Having hung his great saber on a nail,
Seated himself on a throne of cabbage leaves. 

His wife, arriving in a rage,
Put in her pouch her sons and her coins,
Her gloves, her handkerchief and her candies. 

Last Kangaroo, king of the kangaroos, 
Had green eyes and red hair. 
His wife combed her royal spouse. 

Kangaroo the Red, king of the kangaroos, 
Last kangaroo, Kangaroo the Red.

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.
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Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Robert Desnos (1900 - 1945), "Le kangourou", appears in Pour les Enfants Sages, in Chantefables, no. 17, first published 1944
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-03
Line count: 11
Word count: 74