Bestiaire

by May Breguet (1916 - 2006)

1. La Méduse [sung text not yet checked]

Language: French (Français)

Méduses, malheureuses têtes 
Aux chevelures violettes 
Vous vous plaisez dans les tempêtes, 
Et je m'y plais comme vous faites.

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "La Méduse", appears in Le Bestiaire, ou Cortège d'Orphée, no. 21, first published 1911

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

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

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

2. La Tortue [sung text not yet checked]

Language: French (Français)

Du Thrace magique, ô délire! 
Mes doigts sûrs font sonner la lyre.
Les animaux passent aux sons
De ma tortue, de mes chansons.

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "La Tortue", appears in Le Bestiaire, ou Cortège d'Orphée, no. 2, first published 1908

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

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

First published in the revue La Phalange, no. 24, June 15, 1908, in La Marchande des quatre saisons ou le bestiaire mondain, no. 2 of 18.

Research team for this page: Ted Perry , Peter Low [Guest Editor]

3. Ibis [sung text not yet checked]

Language: French (Français)

Oui, j'irai dans l'ombre terreuse
Ô mort certaine, ainsi soit-il ! 
Latin mortel, parole affreuse, 
Ibis, oiseau des bords du Nil.

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Ibis", written 1908, appears in Le Bestiaire, ou Cortège d'Orphée, no. 29, first published 1911

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) (Qi Feng Wu) , "Ibis", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Notes provided by Laura Prichard and Qi Feng Wu: the Underworld is where the Shades, or spirits of the Dead, dwell in Classical Mythology. Ibises were sometimes mummified and buried with the dead, and depicted in Egyptian tomb paintings.

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

4. La Chenille [sung text not yet checked]

Language: French (Français)

Le travail mène à la richesse, 
Pauvres poètes, travaillons ! 
Le chenille en peinant sans cesse 
Devient le riche papillon.

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "La Chenille", appears in Le Bestiaire, ou Cortège d'Orphée, no. 14, first published 1908

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

First published in the revue La Phalange, no. 24, June 15, 1908 as number 11 of "La Marchande des quatre saisons ou le bestiaire mondain" (a collection of 18 poems), and later in Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée (1911).

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

5. La Carpe [sung text not yet checked]

Language: French (Français)

Dans vos viviers, dans vos étangs, 
Carpes, que vous vivez longtemps ! 
Est-ce que la mort vous oublie, 
Poissons de la mélancolie.

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "La Carpe", written 1910, appears in Le Bestiaire, ou Cortège d'Orphée, no. 23, first published 1911

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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Total word count: 102