Dance | Carmen is dancing

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by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Baile

Language: Spanish (Español)

Our translations: ENG ENG FRE

La Carmen está bailando
por las calles de Sevilla.
Tiene blancos los cabellos
y brillantes las pupilas.

¡Niñas, corred las cortinas!

En su cabeza se enrosca
una serpiente amarilla,
y va soñando en el baile
con galanes de otros días.

¡Niñas, corred las cortinas!

Las calles están desiertas
y en los fondos se adivinan,
corazones andaluces
buscando viejas espinas.

¡Niñas, corred las cortinas!

Text Authorship:

by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936), "Baile", appears in Poema del Cante Jondo, in Tres ciudades, no. 3, first published 1921 [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 Julián Bautista (1901 - 1961), "Baile" [ voice and piano ], from Tres cuidades, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Baile", from Romancero Gitano, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Enrique Beck (1904 - 1974) , copyright © 1953 ; composed by Günter Bialas, Hermann Reutter.
- Go to the text.
Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Enrique Beck (1904 - 1974) , "Tanz", appears in Drei Städte, no. 3, copyright © ; composed by Hermann Reutter.
- Go to the text.

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

ENG English (Richard Gard) , "Dance", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Dance", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Danse", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ivo Zandhuis

This text was added to the website: 2005-01-11
Line count: 15
Word count: 63

Dance

Language: English after the Spanish (Español)

Carmen is dancing
through the streets of Seville.
She has fair hair
and shining pupils.
 
Girls, draw the curtains!
 
On her head is coiled
a yellow snake,
and in her dreams she dances
with suitors from former days.
 
Girls, draw the curtains!
 
The streets are deserted
and in their depths can be glimpsed
Andalusian hearts
seeking out old thorns.
 
Girls, draw the curtains!

Text Authorship:

Translation from Spanish (Español) to English copyright © 2020 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 Spanish (Español) by Federico García Lorca (1898 - 1936), "Baile", appears in Poema del Cante Jondo, in Tres ciudades, no. 3, first published 1921
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-07-13
Line count: 15
Word count: 63