The Elderly Lion | The lion, terror of the forests

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Jean de La Fontaine (1621 - 1695)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Le lion devenu vieux

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Le Lion, terreur des forêts,
Chargé d'ans et pleurant son antique prouesse,
Fut enfin attaqué par ses propres sujets,
Devenus forts par sa faiblesse.
Le Cheval s'approchant lui donne un coup de pied ;
Le Loup un coup de dent, le Boeuf un coup de corne.
Le malheureux Lion, languissant, triste, et morne,
Peut a peine rugir, par l'âge estropié.
Il attend son destin, sans faire aucunes plaintes ;
Quand voyant l'Ane même à son antre accourir :
"Ah ! c'est trop, lui dit-il ; je voulais bien mourir ;
Mais c'est mourir deux fois que souffrir tes atteintes."

Text Authorship:

by Jean de La Fontaine (1621 - 1695), "Le Lion devenu vieux", written 1668, appears in Fables, Livre III, no. 14 [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 Isabelle Aboulker (b. 1938), "Le Lion devenu vieux", 2002?, published 2018 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies pour voix et piano, no. 18, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
by Melchior Alexandre Bruneau (1823 - 1898), "Le lion devenu vieux", op. 377 no. 15 (1879) [ low voice and piano or harmonium ], from 25 fables de La Fontaine, no. 15 [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis (Trouillon) Lacombe (1818 - 1884), "Le lion devenu vieux" [sung text checked 1 time]
by Florent Schmitt (1870 - 1958), "Le lion devenu vieux", op. 130 no. 2 (1953), published 1954 [ four-part mixed chorus and piano ], from Fables sans morales, no. 2, Paris, Éd. Durand & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Elderly Lion", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2013-10-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 93

The Elderly Lion

Language: English after the French (Français)

The lion, terror of the forests,
Weighed down with years and bewailing his former prowess,
Was at last set upon by his own subjects,
Empowered by his weakness.
The horse approached and kicked him;
The wolf bit him, and the ox gored him.
The unfortunate lion, failing, sad, and mournful,
Could barely roar, so hobbled was he by age.
He was awaiting his fate, making no complaints,
When, seeing even the ass rushing to his den,
"Ah! It's too much," he said; "I was quite willing to die,
But to suffer your assaults is to die twice."

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 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 Jean de La Fontaine (1621 - 1695), "Le Lion devenu vieux", written 1668, appears in Fables, Livre III, no. 14
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-09-17
Line count: 12
Word count: 97