Alphabet : 7 quatrains of Raymond Radiguet

Translations © by Peter Low

Song Cycle by Georges Auric (1899 - 1983)

View original-language texts alone: Alphabet : 7 quatrains de Raymond Radiguet

1. Album  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Apprendre n'est pas un pensum
Lectrice qui ne savez lire
Ayez grand soin de cet album
Né du plus funeste délire

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by Raymond Radiguet (1903 - 1923)
1. An album
Language: English 
To learn is not an imposition,
girl reader who cannot read:
be very careful with this album
born of disastrous delirium.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2017 by Peter Low, (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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This text was added to the website: 2017-08-03
Line count: 4
Word count: 21

Translation © by Peter Low
2. Bateau  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Bateau debout bateau hagard
La danseuse sans crier gare
Sans même appeler les pompiers
Mourut sur la pointe des pieds

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by Raymond Radiguet (1903 - 1923)
2. A boat
Language: English 
Like a vertical boat, a wild-looking boat,
the dancer without issuing a warning,
without even calling emergency,
died still standing on her points.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2017 by Peter Low, (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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This text was added to the website: 2017-08-03
Line count: 4
Word count: 23

Translation © by Peter Low
3. Domino  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Le domino, jeu des ménages
Embellit les soirs de campagne.
Du grand-père écoutons l'adage :
« Qui triche enfant finit au bagne »

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by Raymond Radiguet (1903 - 1923)
3. Dominoes
Language: English 
Dominoes, a household game,
enlivens evenings in the country.
Remember grandfather’s proverb:
“Cheat as a child and you’ll end up in prison.”

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2017 by Peter Low, (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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This text was added to the website: 2017-08-03
Line count: 4
Word count: 22

Translation © by Peter Low
4. Filet à papillons  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
« Papillon, tu es inhumain !
Je te poursuis depuis hier »
Ainsi parlait une écolière
Que j'ai rencontrée en chemin

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by Raymond Radiguet (1903 - 1923)
4. Butterfly net
Language: English 
“Butterfly, you are inhuman!
I’ve been chasing you since yesterday.”
So said a schoolgirl
whom I met along the path.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2017 by Peter Low, (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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This text was added to the website: 2017-08-03
Line count: 4
Word count: 20

Translation © by Peter Low
5. Mallarmé  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Un éventail qui fut l'oiselle
Exquise des rudes étés
Effleure fraîchement de l'aile
L'oiseau peint sur la tasse à thé

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by Raymond Radiguet (1903 - 1923)
5. Quatrain for Mallarmé
Language: English 
A fan that once was a bird,
the exquisite bird of harsh summers,
coolly brushes with its wing
the painted bird on the tea-cup.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2017 by Peter Low, (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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This text was added to the website: 2017-08-03
Line count: 4
Word count: 24

Translation © by Peter Low
6. Hirondelle  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Comme chacun sait l'hirondelle
Annonce la belle saison
Elle n'a pas toujours raison
Cependant nous croyons en elle

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by Raymond Radiguet (1903 - 1923)
6. Swallow
Language: English 
The swallow, as everyone knows,
announces the fine weather.
She is not always right,
yet we believe in her.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2017 by Peter Low, (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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This text was added to the website: 2017-08-03
Line count: 4
Word count: 19

Translation © by Peter Low
7. Escarpin  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Grand bal dans la forêt ce soir
Les dryades à chaque pin
Ont accroché deux escarpins
Que chaussent leurs cavaliers noirs

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by Raymond Radiguet (1903 - 1923)
7. Dancing-shoe
Language: English 
There’s a ball in the forest this evening:
on every pine-tree the wood-nymphs
have hung two dancing-shoes,
and their swarthy partners are putting them on.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2017 by Peter Low, (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: 

Based on:

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This text was added to the website: 2017-08-03
Line count: 4
Word count: 25

Translation © by Peter Low