Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

13 façons de regarder un merle

Translations © by Guy Laffaille

Song Cycle by Lukas Foss (b. 1922)

View original-language texts alone: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

(Sung text)

Language: English

Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 1, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

Language: French (Français)

Parmi vingt montagnes neigeuses,
La seule chose qui bougeait
Était l'œil du merle.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 1, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 3
Word count: 13

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

(Sung text)

Language: English

I was of three minds.
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 2, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

Language: French (Français)

J'étais de trois avis,
Comme un arbre
Dans lequel il y a trois merles.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 2, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 3
Word count: 14

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

(Sung text)

Language: English

The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime.

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 3, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

Language: French (Français)

Le merle tournoyait dans les vents d'automne.
C'était une petite partie de la pantomime

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 3, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 2
Word count: 14

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

(Sung text)

Language: English

A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 4, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

Language: French (Français)

Un homme et une femme
Ne font qu'un.
Un homme et une femme et un merle
Ne font qu'un.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 4, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 4
Word count: 19

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

(Sung text)

Language: English

I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 5, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

Language: French (Français)

Je ne sais laquelle préférer
La beauté des inflexions
Ou la beauté des insinuations,
Le merle en train de siffler
Ou juste après.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 5, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 5
Word count: 23

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

(Sung text)

Language: English

Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 6, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

Language: French (Français)

Des glaçons remplissaient la longue fenêtre
Avec du verre barbare.
L'ombre du merle
Le traversait, allant et venant.
Son humeur
Traçait sur la neige
Un motif indéchiffrable.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 6, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 7
Word count: 27

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

(Sung text)

Language: English

O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Do you not see how the blackbird
Walks around the feet
Of the women about you?

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 7, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

Language: French (Français)

Ô minces hommes d'Haddam,
Pourquoi imaginez-vous des oiseaux dorés ?
Ne voyez-vous pas comment le merle
Marche autour des pieds
Des femmes près de vous ?

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 7, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 5
Word count: 24

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

(Sung text)

Language: English

I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 8, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

Language: French (Français)

Je connais de nobles accents
Et des rythmes lucides et inéluctables ;
Mais je sais aussi
Que le merle est mêlé
À ce que je connais.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 8, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 5
Word count: 25

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

(Sung text)

Language: English

When the blackbird flew out of sight
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 9, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

Language: French (Français)

Quand le merle s'envola hors de vue,
Il marqua le bord
D'un parmi de nombreux cercles.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 9, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 3
Word count: 16

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

10.

(Sung text)

Language: English

At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in the green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 10, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

10.

Language: French (Français)

À la vue des merles
Volant dans la lumière verte,
Même les catins de l'euphonie
Crieraient brusquement.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 10, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 4
Word count: 17

11.

(Sung text)

Language: English

He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For Blackbirds.

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 11, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

11.

Language: French (Français)

Il chevauchait dans le Connecticut
Dans un carrosse de verre.
Une fois, une peur le transperça,
En fait, il avait confondu
L'ombre de son équipage
Avec des merles.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 11, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 6
Word count: 28

12.

(Sung text)

Language: English

The river is moving.
The blackbirds must be flying.

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 12, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

12.

Language: French (Français)

La rivière bouge.
Les merles doivent être en train de voler.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 12, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 2
Word count: 11

13.

(Sung text)

Language: English

It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbirds sat
In the cedar-limbs.

Text Authorship:

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 13, first published 1917

See other settings of this text.

by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

13.

Language: French (Français)

C'était le soir tout l'après-midi.
Il neigeait.
Et il allait neiger.
Les merles étaient posés
Sur les grosses branches des cèdres.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2014 by Guy Laffaille, (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 English by Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955), appears in Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, no. 13, first published 1917
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-06
Line count: 5
Word count: 21