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Verlainexquises

Song Cycle by Pierre Thilloy (b. 1970)

1. Colombine  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: French (Français) 
Léandre le sot,
Pierrot qui d'un saut
  De puce
Franchit le buisson,
Cassandre sous son
  Capuce,

Arlequin aussi,
Cet aigrefin si
  Fantasque
Aux costumes fous,
Ses yeux luisants sous
  Son masque,

— Do, mi, sol, mi, fa, —
Tout ce monde va,
  Rit, chante
Et danse devant
Une belle enfant
  Méchante

Dont les yeux pervers
Comme les yeux verts
  Des chattes
Gardent ses appas
Et disent: « À bas
  Les pattes ! »

— Eux ils vont toujours ! —
Fatidique cours
  Des astres,
Oh ! dis-moi vers quels
Mornes ou cruels
  Désastres

L'implacable enfant,
Preste et relevant
  Ses jupes,
La rose au chapeau,
Conduit son troupeau
  De dupes ?

Text Authorship:

  • by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Colombine", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 19, Paris, Éditions Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869

See other settings of this text.

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

  • ENG English (Peter Low) , "Colombine", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 43-45.

Note: The ampersand (&) as appears in the first publication is changed to "et".


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

2. Les indolents  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: French (Français) 
Bah ! malgré les destins jaloux,
Mourons ensemble, voulez-vous ?
— La proposition est rare.

— Le rare est le bon. Donc mourons
Comme dans les Décamérons.
— Hi ! hi ! hi ! quel amant bizarre !

— Bizarre, je ne sais. Amant
Irréprochable, assurément.
Si vous voulez, mourons ensemble ?

— Monsieur, vous raillez mieux encor
Que vous n'aimez, et parlez d'or ;
Mais taisons-nous, si bon vous semble ? —

Si bien que ce soir-là Tircis
Et Dorimène, à deux assis
Non loin de deux silvains hilares,

Eurent l'inexpiable tort
D'ajourner une exquise mort.
Hi ! hi ! hi ! les amants bizarres.

Text Authorship:

  • by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Les indolents", written 1866, appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 18, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869

See other settings of this text.

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

  • ENG English (Peter Low) , "The Indolent Ones", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 41-42.

Note: The em dash (—) at the end of the second line has been moved to the beginning of the third line as to match the formatting in subsequent editions. The ampersand (&) as appears in the first publication is changed to "et".


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

3. Les ingénus  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: French (Français) 
Les hauts talons luttaient avec les longues jupes,
En sorte que, selon le terrain et le vent,
Parfois luisaient des bas de [jambe]1, trop souvent
Interceptés ! — et nous aimions ce jeu de dupes.

Parfois aussi le dard d'un insecte jaloux
Inquiétait le col des belles sous les branches,
Et c'étaient des éclairs soudains des nuques blanches,
Et ce régal comblait nos jeunes yeux de fous.

Le soir tombait, un soir équivoque d'automne :
Les belles, se pendant rêveuses à nos bras,
Dirent alors des mots si spécieux, tout bas,
Que notre âme, depuis ce temps, tremble et s'étonne.

Text Authorship:

  • by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Les ingénus", written 1869, appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 7, Paris, Édition Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869

See other settings of this text.

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

  • ENG English [singable] (Nita Cox) , "Youthful lovers", first published 1904
  • ENG English (Jordyn Elizabeth Beranek) , "Young lovers", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Die Arglosen", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 13-14. Note: All the ampersands (&) that appeared in the first publication were changed to "et".

1 Debussy: "jambes"

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
Total word count: 300
Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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