The Giraffe | The giraffe and the weather vane

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by Robert Desnos (1900 - 1945)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

La girafe

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

La girafe et la girouette,
Vent du sud et vent de l’est,
Tendent leur cou vers l’alouette,
Vent du nord et vent de l’ouest.

Toutes deux vivent près du ciel,
Vent du sud et vent de l’est,
À la hauteur des hirondelles,
Vent du nord et vent de l’ouest.

Et l’hirondelle pirouette,
Vent du sud et vent de l’est,
En été sur les girouettes,
Vent du nord et vent de l’ouest.

L’hirondelle, fait, des paraphes,
Vent du sud et vent de l’est,
Tout l’hiver autour des girafes,
Vent du nord et vent de l’ouest.

Text Authorship:

by Robert Desnos (1900 - 1945), "La girafe", appears in Pour les Enfants Sages, in Chantefables, no. 19, Paris, Éd. Librairie Gründ, 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), "La girafe", op. 36 no. 7 (1945) [ medium voice and piano ], from Huit chantefables pour les enfants sages, no. 7, Éd. Françaises de Musique-Sofirad [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Giraffe", 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: 16
Word count: 94

The Giraffe

Language: English after the French (Français)

The giraffe and the weather vane,
South wind and East wind,
Stretch their neck towards the lark,
North wind and West wind.

Both live near the sky,
South wind and East wind,
As high as the swallows,
North wind and West wind.

And the swallow pirouettes,
South wind and East wind,
In Summer on the weather vanes,
North wind and West wind.

The swallow makes flourishes,
South wind and East wind,
All Winter around the giraffes,
North wind and West wind.

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 Robert Desnos (1900 - 1945), "La girafe", appears in Pour les Enfants Sages, in Chantefables, no. 19, Paris, Éd. Librairie Gründ, first published 1944
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-03
Line count: 16
Word count: 81