Three Pastorals

Translations © by Michael P Rosewall

Song Cycle by Hendrik Andriessen (1892 - 1981)

View original-language texts alone: Trois pastorales

1. Tête de faune
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Dans la feuillée, écrin vert taché d'or,
dans la feuillée incertaine et fleurie
de fleurs splendides où le baiser dort,
vif et crevant l'exquise broderie,

Un faune effaré montre ses deux yeux 
el mord les fleurs rouges de ses dents blanches.
Brunie et sanglante ainsi qu'un vin vieux
sa lèvre éclate en rires sous les branches. 

Et quand il a fui -- tel qu'un écureuil --
son rire tremble encore à chaque feuille, 
et l'on voit épeuré par un bouvreuil
le Baiser d'or du Bois, qui se recueille.

Text Authorship:

  • by Arthur Rimbaud (1854 - 1891), "Tête de faune", written 1870-1871, appears in Poésies, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1929

See other settings of this text.

by Arthur Rimbaud (1854 - 1891)
1. The Head of a Faun
Language: English 
Within the grove, green treasure box flecked with gold,
Within the dim grove, and foliated
With dazzling flowers where a kiss slumbers,
Vivid and piercing the exquisite embroidery,

A timid faun raises his two eyes,
Chewing red flowers with his white teeth.
Browned and bloodied like aged wine
His lips burst with laughter beneath the branches.

And after he has fled -- like a squirrel –
His laughter still trembles on each leaf,
And one sees, disturbed by a bullfinch,
The golden kiss of the wood restoring itself.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 by Michael P Rosewall, (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: 2022-09-05
Line count: 12
Word count: 87

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall
2. Le dormeur du val
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
C'est un trou de verdure où chante une rivière
Accrochant follement aux herbes des haillons
D'argent; où le soleil de la montagne fière,
Luit; C'est un petit val qui mousse de rayons.

Un soldat jeune bouche ouverte, tête nue,
Et la nuque baignant dans le frais cresson bleu,
Dort; il est étendu dans l'herbe, sous la nue,
Pale dans son lit vert où la lumière pleut.

Les pieds dans les glaïeuls, il dort. Souriant comme 
Sourirait un enfant malade, il fait un somme:
Nature, berce-le chaudement: il a froid.

Les parfums ne font plus frissonner sa narine;
Il dort dans le soleil, la main sur sa poitrine
Tranquille. Il a deux trous rouges au coté droit.

Text Authorship:

  • by Arthur Rimbaud (1854 - 1891), "Le Dormeur du val", written 1870, appears in Poésies, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1929

See other settings of this text.

by Arthur Rimbaud (1854 - 1891)
2. The Sleeper of the Valley
Language: English 
There is a green dell where a river sings,
Clutching wildly at the foliage with
Rags of silver; where the sun lights the proud
Mountain; it’s a small valley, frothy with rays of the sun.

A young soldier, open-mouthed, bare-headed, 
and the nape of his neck awash in the cool, blue watercress,
Sleeps; he lies in the grass, beneath the sky,
Pale in his green bed where the light is raining.

His feet amid the gladiolus, he sleeps. 
Smiling as a sick child does, he takes a nap:
Nature, cradle him snugly: he is cold.

Fragrances no longer make his nostrils flutter;
He sleeps in the sun, his hand across his chest
Peacefully. There are two red holes in his right side.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 by Michael P Rosewall, (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:

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2022-09-05
Line count: 14
Word count: 122

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall
3. Sensation
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Par les soirs bleus d'été, j'irai dans les sentiers,
Picoté par les blés, fouler l'herbe menue :
Réveur, j'en sentirai la fraîcheur à mes pieds.
Je laisserai le vent baigner ma tète nue ! 

Je ne parlerai pas, je ne penserai rien :
Mais l'amour infïni me montera dans l'âme,
Et j'irai loin, bien loin, comme un bohémien
Par la Nature, -- heureux comme avec une femme.

Text Authorship:

  • by Arthur Rimbaud (1854 - 1891), "Sensation", written 1870, appears in Poésies, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1929

See other settings of this text.

by Arthur Rimbaud (1854 - 1891)
3. Sensation
Language: English 
On blue summer evenings, I’ll take to the trails,
Tickled by wheat, trampling sparse grass:
Dreamily, I’ll feel the freshness at my feet.
I’ll let the wind wash across my bare head! 

I won’t speak, I won’t think about anything:
But an infinite love will rise within my soul, 
And I’ll go further, much further, like a bohemian
Into nature - as happy as being with a woman.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 by Michael P Rosewall, (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:

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2022-09-05
Line count: 8
Word count: 67

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall