Three Sisters on the Seashore | Three sisters are singing clearly on the seashore

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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Trois serors sor rive mer

Language: Old French (Ancien français)

Our translations: ENG

Quadruplum:
 Trois serors sor rive mer chantent cler
 L'aisnée dit a "on doit bien bele dame amer
 et s'amour garder, cil qui l'a"

Triplum:
 Trois serors sor rive mer chantent cler
 La moiene a apelé Robin son ami
 "prise m'avés el bois ramé, reportés m'i"

Duplum:
 Trois serors sor rive mer chantent cler
 La jonete fu brunete de brun ami s'ahati
 "je suis brune s'avrai brun ami aussi"

Text Authorship:

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [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 Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , "Trois serors sor rive mer", 12th-13th century [ chorus ], motet [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Three Sisters on the Seashore", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2010-02-17
Line count: 12
Word count: 68

Three Sisters on the Seashore

Language: English after the Old French (Ancien français)

Quadruplum:
Three sisters are singing clearly on the seashore;
The eldest one said, "One should love a beautiful lady
and he should keep her love, who has it." 

Triplum:
Three sisters are singing clearly on the seashore;
The middle one called to her sweetheart Robin, 
"You took me in the branchy wood, take me back there." 

Duplum:
Three sisters are singing clearly on the seashore;
The youngest one, a brunette, desires a brown-haired sweetheart:
"I have brown hair and will have a brown-haired sweetheart too."

Text Authorship:

Translation from Old French (Ancien 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 Old French (Ancien français) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 85