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Allez au pays de Chine, Et sur ma table apportez Le papier de [paille]1 fine Plein de reflets argentés ! Pour encre et pour écritoire, Allez prendre à l'Alhambra Le sang d'une mûre noire Et l'écorce d'un cédrat ! Au fond des vertes savanes Où l'oiseau pousse son cri, Ramassez dans les lianes La plume d'un colibri ! Puis, pour sécher l'écriture, Par les près [et]2 les sillons Recueillez la poudre pure Qui tombe des papillons ! — Alors, de ma main fidèle Peut-ètre oserai-je, un jour, Tracer le doux nom de celle Qui me fait [languir]3 d'amour.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Louis Bouilhet, Poésies: festons et astragales, Paris: Librairie Nouvelle, 1859, Pages 37-38.
1 Koechlin: "toile"2 Koechlin: "et par"
3 Hignard: "mourir"
Text Authorship:
- by Louis Hyacinthe Bouilhet (1822 - 1869), "Chanson d'amour", appears in Festons et astragales, Paris, Éd. Librairie nouvelle, first published 1859 [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 Jean-Louis Aristide Hignard (1822 - 1897), "Madrigal", published [1884] [ medium voice and piano ], from Rimes et mélodies, série III, no. 21, Paris, Éditions Louis Gregh et Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950), "Chanson d'amour", op. 5 (Cinq mélodies) no. 3 (1893-97) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Omer Letorey (1873 - 1938), "Allez au pays de Chine", published [1913] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Adam Ewing) , "Love song", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Adam Ewing
This text was added to the website: 2012-04-02
Line count: 20
Word count: 97
Come to the land of China, And to my table bring The fine cloth paper Full of silvery gleams! For ink and for writing case, Come take from the Alhambra The blood of a blackberry And the peel of a citron! At the bottom of the green savannahs Where the bird gives his cry, Gather in the creepers The feather of a hummingbird! Then, to dry the writing, By the meadows and by the furrows Collect the pure dust That falls from the butterflies! Then, by my faithful hand Perhaps I will dare, one day, To trace the sweet name of the one Who makes me languish with love.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2012 by Adam Ewing, (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 Louis Hyacinthe Bouilhet (1822 - 1869), "Chanson d'amour", appears in Festons et astragales, Paris, Éd. Librairie nouvelle, first published 1859
This text was added to the website: 2012-04-02
Line count: 20
Word count: 109