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Seven Songs (for mixed choir a cappella)
Translations © by Grant Hicks
Song Cycle by Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963)
View original-language texts alone: Sept chansons, FP. 81
1. La blanche neige
Language: French (Français)
Les anges les anges dans le ciel
L’un est vêtu en officier
L’un est vêtu en cuisinier
Et les autres chantent
Bel officier couleur du ciel
Le doux printemps longtemps après Noël
Te médaillera d’un beau soleil
D’un beau soleil
Le cuisinier plume les oies
Ah ! tombe neige
Tombe et que n’ai-je
Ma bien-aimée entre mes bras
Text Authorship:
- by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "La blanche neige", written 1911, appears in Alcools, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1913
See other settings of this text.
by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
1. The White Snow
Language: English
The angels the angels in the sky
One is dressed as an officer
One is dressed as a chef
And the others are singing.
Fine officer the color of the sky
The sweet Spring long after Christmas
Will pin to your chest a lovely sun
A lovely sun
The chef plucks the geese
Ah! Let the snow fall
Fall and why don't I have
My beloved in my arms
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 Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "La blanche neige", written 1911, appears in Alcools, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1913
Go to the general single-text view
Translations of titles:
"La blanche neige" = "The White Snow"
"La neige blanche" = "The White Snow"
This text was added to the website: 2025-12-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 69
Translation © by Grant Hicks
2. À peine défigurée
Language: French (Français)
Adieu tristesse Bonjour tristesse Tu es inscrite dans les lignes du plafond Tu es inscrite dans les yeux que j'aime Tu n'es pas tout à fait la misère Car les lèvres les plus pauvres te dénoncent Par un sourire Bonjour tristesse Amour des corps aimables Puissance de l'amour Dont l'amabilité surgit Comme un monstre sans corps Tête désappointée Tristesse beau visage
Text Authorship:
- by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "À peine défigurée", appears in La vie immédiate
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with Paul Éluard, Paul ÉluardTournai, Belgium: La Renaissance du livre, 2003, Page 33.
by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard
2. Barely Disfigured
Language: English
Farewell sadness Hello sadness You are inscribed in the lines of the ceiling You are inscribed in the eyes that I love You are not entirely misery For the poorest lips denounce you By a smile Hello sadness Love of kind bodies Power of love Whose kindness rises up Like a bodiless monster Displaced head Sadness lovely face
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 Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "À peine défigurée", appears in La vie immédiate
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2025-12-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 58
Translation © by Grant Hicks
3. Par une nuit nouvelle
Language: French (Français)
Femme avec laquelle j'ai vécu Femme avec laquelle je vis Femme avec laquelle je vivrai Toujours la même Il te faut un manteau rouge Des gants rouges un masque rouge Il te faut des bas noirs Des raisons des preuves De te voir toute nue Nudité pure ô parure parée Seins ô mon cœur
Text Authorship:
- by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Par une nuit nouvelle", appears in La vie immédiate
See other settings of this text.
Submitter(s) by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard
3. On a New Night
Language: English
Woman I've lived with Woman I live with Woman I will live with Always the same You should have a red cloak Red gloves a red mask [And]1 black stockings Reasons proofs To see you all nude Pure nudity O ready finery Breasts O my heart
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 Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Par une nuit nouvelle", appears in La vie immédiate
Go to the general single-text view
View original text (without footnotes)1 Poulenc: "You should have"
This text was added to the website: 2025-12-16
Line count: 11
Word count: 47
Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. Tous les droits
Language: French (Français)
Simile L'ombre fleurie des fleurs suspendues au printemps Le jour le plus court de l'année et la nuit esquimau L'agonie des visionnaires de l'automne L'odeur des roses la savante brûlure de l'ortie Étends des linges transparents Dans la clairière de tes yeux Montre les ravages du feu ses oeuvres d'inspiré Et le paradis de sa cendre Le phénomène abstrait luttant avec les aiguilles de la pendule Les blessures de la vérité les serments qui ne plient pas Montre-toi Tu peux sortir en robe de cristal Ta beauté continue Tes yeux versent des larmes des caresses des sourires Tes yeux sont sans secret Sans limites
Text Authorship:
- by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Tous les droits", appears in La vie immédiate
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with Paul Éluard, Œuvres complètes, Vol. 1, Paris: Gallimard, 1968, Pages 367-368.
by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard
4. All Rights
Language: English
Feign The flowery shadow of the flowers suspended in the Spring The shortest day of the year and the Eskimo night The agony of Autumn visionaries The scent of roses the clever sting of the nettle Spread out transparent linens In the clearing of your eyes Show the ravages of fire its inspired works And the paradise of its ash The abstract phenomenon struggling with the hands of the clock. The wounds of truth the vows that do not bend Show yourself You can go out in a robe of crystal Your beauty goes on Your eyes shed tears caresses smiles Your eyes are without secrets Without limits
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 Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Tous les droits", appears in La vie immédiate
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2025-12-16
Line count: 17
Word count: 108
Translation © by Grant Hicks
5. Belle et ressemblante
Language: French (Français)
Un visage à la fin du jour Un berceau dans les feuilles mortes du jour Un bouquet de pluie nue Tout soleil caché Toute source des sources au fond de l'eau Tout miroir des miroirs brisés Un visage dans les balances du silence Un caillou parmi d'autres cailloux Pour les frondes des dernières lueurs du jour Un visage semblable à tous les visages oubliés
Text Authorship:
- by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Belle et ressemblante", appears in La vie immédiate
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with J. Jaffré, Le vers et le poème, N.p.: FeniXX réédition numérique, 1992, Page 137.
by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard
5. Lovely and True to Life
Language: English
A face at the end of the day A cradle in the dead leaves of the day A scent of naked rain Every hidden sun Every spring of springs at the bottom of the water Every mirror of broken mirrors A face in the scales of silence A pebble among other pebbles For the slings of the last glimmers of the day A face like all the forgotten faces
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 Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Belle et ressemblante", appears in La vie immédiate
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2025-12-16
Line count: 10
Word count: 69
Translation © by Grant Hicks
6. Marie
Language: French (Français)
Vous y dansiez petite fille Y danserez-vous mère-grand C'est la maclotte qui sautille Toutes les cloches sonneront Quand donc reviendrez-vous Marie Les masques sont silencieux Et la musique est si lointaine Qu'elle semble venir des cieux Oui je veux vous aimer mais vous aimer à peine Et mon mal est délicieux Les brebis s'en vont dans la neige Flocons de laine et ceux d'argent Des soldats passent et que n'ai-je Un coeur à moi ce coeur changeant Changeant et puis encor que sais-je Sais-je où s'en iront tes cheveux Crépus comme mer qui moutonne Sais-je où s'en iront tes cheveux Et tes mains feuilles de l'automne Que jonchent aussi nos aveux Je passais au bord de la Seine Un livre ancien sous le bras Le fleuve est pareil à ma peine Il s'écoule et ne tarit pas Quand donc finira la semaine
Text Authorship:
- by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Marie", appears in Alcools, first published 1913
See other settings of this text.
by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
6. Marie
Language: English
You were dancing there little girl Will you dance there grandmother It is the maclotte that leaps about All the bells will sound So when will you return Marie The masks are silent And the music is so distant That it seems to come from the heavens Yes I want to love you but barely love you And my pain is delicious The ewes go off into the snow Flakes of wool and those of silver Soldiers pass by and why don't I have A heart that is mine this changing heart Changing and then again what do I know Do I know where your hair will go Frizzy like the foaming sea Do I know where your hair will go And your hands leaves of Autumn That our confessions also bestrew I passed by the bank of the Seine An old book under my arm The river is like my pain It flows and does not dry up So when will the week be done
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 Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Marie", appears in Alcools, first published 1913
Go to the general single-text view
Note for stanza 1, line 3, "maclotte": a traditional dance from the Ardennes.This text was added to the website: 2025-12-16
Line count: 25
Word count: 166
Translation © by Grant Hicks
7. Luire
Language: French (Français)
Terre irréprochablement cultivée,
Miel d'aube, soleil en fleurs,
Coureur tenant encore par un fil au dormeur.
(Nœud par intelligences)
Et le jetant sur son épaule :
« Il n'a jamais été plus neuf,
Il n'a jamais été si lourd. »
Usure, il sera plus léger,
Utile.
Clair soleil d'été avec :
Sa chaleur, sa douceur, sa tranquillité.
Et, vite,
Les porteurs de fleurs en l'air touchent de la terre.
Text Authorship:
- by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Luire"
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with Paul Éluard, Capitale de la douleur, Paris: Gallimard, 1926, Page 33.
by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard
7. Shine
Language: English
Land impeccably cultivated,
Honey of dawn, sun in flower,
Runner still holding on to the sleeper by a thread.
(Bond of understanding)
And throwing it over his shoulder:
"It has never been newer,
It has never been so heavy."
With wear, it will be lighter,
Useful.
Bright sun of summer with:
Its heat, its gentleness, its tranquility.
And, quickly,
The flower-bearers in the air touch the ground.
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 Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Luire"
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2025-12-16
Line count: 13
Word count: 68
Translation © by Grant Hicks