The bestiary

Song Cycle by Louis Durey (1888 - 1979)

View original-language texts alone: Le Bestiaire

1. Orphée
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Admirez le pouvoir insigne
Et la noblesse de la ligne: 
Elle est la voix que la lumière fit entendre
Et dont parle Hermès Trismégiste en son Pimandre.

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First published in the revue La Phalange, no. 24, June 15, 1908 as number 1 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).

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
1. Orpheus
Language: English 
Admire his distinguished authority
And the nobility of his family tree: 
This is the voice of the light made audible
And spoken of by Hermès Trismegistus in his Pimander.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard, (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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Translator's Notes:
“Hermes the Thrice-Greatest” (Ἑρμῆς ὁ Τρισμέγιστος or Mercurius ter Maximus) is a legendary Greek author whose seventeen writings form the basis of Hermeticism.
The first chapter of the Corpus Hermeticum. sometimes called “The Discourse of Poimandres,” (in Greek, Ποιμάνδρης), written c200 CE, compiled by medieval Byzantine authors, and translated into Latin in the fifteenth century by Italian humanists.
In Apollonaire’s notes to his Bestiary, he quotes: “‘Soon', we read in the Pimander, ‘they descend into the shadows….and an inarticulate cry rises from there that seems the voice of light.’ This ‘voice of light’ is the drawing itself, that is to say, the line. And when light expresses itself completely, everything becomes colored. Painting is, properly, a language of light.”



This text was added to the website: 2023-08-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 29

Translation © by Laura Prichard
2. La Tortue
 (Sung text)
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.

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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.


by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
2. The Turtle
Language: English 
My sure fingers pluck the strings
of the lyre of magical Thrace (how exciting!).
The animals pass accompanied by 
the sounds of my turtle, of my songs.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 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: 2022-07-01
Line count: 4
Word count: 27

Translation © by Peter Low
3. Le Cheval
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Mes durs rêves formels sauront te chevaucher, 
Mon destin au char d'or sera ton beau cocher 
Qui pour rènes tendus à frénésie, 
Mes vers, les parangons de toute poésie.

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First appeared in the revue La Phalange, June 15, 1908, in "La Marchande des quatre saisons ou le bestiaire mondain" no. 3 of 18, and later in the 1911 publication of "Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée", Paris, Deplanche.


by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
3. The Horse
Language: English 
My harsh formal dreams will know how to mount you,
my gold-charioted destiny will be your handsome coachman
and the reins, stretched in a frenzy, will be
my lines of verse, the paragons of all poetry.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 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: 2022-09-05
Line count: 4
Word count: 36

Translation © by Peter Low
4. La Chèvre du Thibet
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Les poils de cette chèvre et même 
Ceux d'or pour qui prit tant de peine 
Jason, ne valent rien au prix 
Des cheveux dont je suis épris.

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First published in the revue La Phalange, no. 24, June 15, 1908 as number 4 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).

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
4. The Tibetan goat
Language: English 
The fleece of this goat, and even that
Of gold for which Jason took such pains,
Are worthless compared to 
The locks that I yearn for.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2015 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: 2015-08-25
Line count: 4
Word count: 26

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall
5. Le Serpent
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Tu t'acharnes sur la beauté. 
Et quelles femmes ont été 
Victimes de ta cruauté! 
Eve, Eurydice, Cléopâtre ; 
J'en connais encor trois ou quatre.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
5. The serpent
Language: English 
You attack beauty. 
And what women have been
Victims of your cruelty! 
Eve, Eurydice, Cleopatra; 
I know three or four more.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2018 by Laura Prichard, (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: 2018-07-13
Line count: 5
Word count: 21

Translation © by Laura Prichard
6. Le Chat
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Je souhaite dans ma maison : 
Une femme ayant sa raison, 
Un chat passant parmi les livres, 
Des amis en toute saison 
Sans lesquels je ne peux pas vivre.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
6. The Cat
Language: English 
I wish to have in my house:
a woman with a sane mind,
a cat moving among the books,
and friends in all seasons
without whom I cannot live.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 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: 2022-07-01
Line count: 5
Word count: 29

Translation © by Peter Low
7. Le Lion
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Ô lion, malheureuse image 
Des rois chus lamentablement, 
Tu ne nais maintenant qu'en cage 
À Hambourg, chez les Allemands.

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First published in the revue La Phalange, no. 24, June 15, 1908 as number 6 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).


by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
7. The Lion
Language: English 
O lion, unhappy emblem 
Of kings hunted lamentably, 
Now you're born in cages
at the Hamburg zoo, home to Germans.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard and Qi Feng Wu, (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: 2023-08-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 20

Translation © by Laura Prichard, Qi Feng Wu
8. Le Lièvre
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Ne sois pas lascif et peureux 
Comme le lièvre et l'amoureux. 
Mais, que toujours ton cerveau soit 
La hase pleine qui conçoit.

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First appeared in the revue La Phalange, June 15, 1908, in "La Marchande des quatre saisons ou le bestiaire mondain" no. 7 of 18, and later in the 1911 publication of "Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée", Paris, Deplanche.


by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
8. The Hare
Language: English 
Don't be lustful and anxious 
Like the jack and his jill. 
But let your mind always be filled like
The fat doe that is fruitful.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard and Qi Feng Wu, (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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Translators' note for line 4: The female hare can conceive again while still pregnant.



This text was added to the website: 2023-08-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 26

Translation © by Laura Prichard, Qi Feng Wu
9. Le Lapin
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Je connais un autre connin 
Que tout vivant je voudrais prendre. 
Sa garenne est parmi le thym 
Des vallons du pays de Tendre.

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First appeared in the revue La Phalange, June 15, 1908, in "La Marchande des quatre saisons ou le bestiaire mondain" no. 8 of 18, and later in the 1911 publication of "Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée", Paris, Deplanche.


by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
9. The Rabbit
Language: English 
I know another rabbit
which I would like to catch alive.
Her warren is among the thyme
in the vales of the Land of Love.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 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: 2022-09-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 25

Translation © by Peter Low
10. Le Dromadaire
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Avec ses quatre dromadaires
Don Pedro d'Alfaroubeira
Courut le monde et l'admira.
Il fit ce que je voudrais faire
Si j'avais quatre dromadaires.

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First published in the revue La Phalange, no. 24, June 15, 1908, no. 9 in La Marchande des quatre saisons ou le bestiaire mondain


by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
10. The dromedary
Language: English 
With his four dromedaries,
Don Pedro d'Alfaroubeira
Wandered and wondered at the world.
He did what I would like to do
If I had four dromedaries.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2015 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: 2015-08-25
Line count: 5
Word count: 26

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall
11. La Souris
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Belles journées, souris du temps,
Vous rongez peu à peu ma vie.
Dieu! Je vais avoir vingt-huit ans,
Et mal vécus, à mon envie.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
11. The mouse
Language: English 
Lovely days, mouse of time,
You gnaw little by little at my life.
God! I wil soon be twenty-eight,
With a troubled mind, filled with desires.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Prichard, (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: 2016-02-09
Line count: 4
Word count: 26

Translation © by Laura Prichard
12. L'Éléphant
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Comme un éléphant son ivoire, 
J'ai en bouche un bien précieux. 
Pourpre mort!.. J'achète ma gloire 
Au prix des mots mélodieux.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
12. The Elephant
Language: English 
Like an elephant its ivory,
I have a precious good in my mouth. 
Purple death!.. I buy my glory
At the cost of melodious words.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Anyi Sharma, (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: 2023-07-21
Line count: 4
Word count: 25

Translation © by Anyi Sharma
13. Orphée
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Regardez cette troupe infecte 
Aux mille pattes, aux cent yeux : 
Rotifères, cirons, insectes 
Et microbes plus merveilleux 
Que les sept merveilles du monde 
Et le palais de Rosemonde!

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First published in the revue La Phalange, no. 24, June 15, 1908 as number 10 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).

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
13.
Language: English 
Behold this infestation
with a thousand feet, one hundred eyes:
Zooplankton, mites, insects 
And microbes more marvelous 
Than the seven wonders of the world
Or the palace of Rosemonde!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard, (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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Translation of title "Orphée" = "Orpheus"

Translator's note: Apollonaire’s notes to his Bestiary state: “This palace was the proof of the King of England’s love for his mistress, as recounted in these lines from a poem whose author I do not know: 

To shelter Rosemonde from the malice
She suffered from his queen,
The king built Rosemonde a palace
More beautiful than ever seen."


This text was added to the website: 2023-08-23
Line count: 6
Word count: 29

Translation © by Laura Prichard
14. La Chenille
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Le travail mène à la richesse, 
Pauvres poètes, travaillons ! 
Le chenille en peinant sans cesse 
Devient le riche papillon.

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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).


by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
14. The Caterpillar
Language: English 
Work leads to wealth,
so we, poor poets, must work!
The caterpillar by constant effort
becomes the rich butterfly.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 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: 2022-09-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 19

Translation © by Peter Low
15. La mouche
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Nos mouches savent des chansons 
Que leur apprirent en Norvège 
Les mouches ganiques qui sont 
Les divinités de la neige.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
15. The Fly
Language: English 
Our houseflies know songs
Which they learned in Norway from
Those bright*1 flies who are 
The gods of snow*2.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard, (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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Translator's notes:
Line 3 word 2: perhaps from the Greek “ganos” (γάνος) meaning brightness or sheen
Line 4: Apollonaire’s notes to his Bestiary state: “Not all of them take the form of snowflakes; many have been tamed by the Finnish or Lapp sorcerers and obey them. The magicians hand them down from father to son and keep them imprisoned in boxes where they are invisible, ready to fly out in a swarm and torment thieves, while singing magic words that are as immortal as they are.”



This text was added to the website: 2023-08-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 19

Translation © by Laura Prichard
16. La Puce
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Puces, amis, amantes même,
Qu'ils sont cruels ceux qui nous aiment ! 
Tout notre sang coule pour eux.
Les bien-aimés sont malheureux.

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First published in the revue La Phalange no. 24, June 15, 1908, as no. 13 in La Marchande des quatre saisons ou le bestiaire mondain, a collection of 18 poems, and later in Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée, Paris, Deplanche, 1911.


by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
16. The flea
Language: English 
Fleas, friends, lovers even,
They are cruel, those who love us! 
All our blood flows for them1.
The beloved are unhappy.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Prichard, (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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1 Ssatirical, since this is simlar in phrasing to section of the Catholic communion rite: “…his body, given for us."


This text was added to the website: 2016-04-10
Line count: 4
Word count: 21

Translation © by Laura Prichard
17. La sauterelle
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Voici la fine sauterelle, 
La nourriture de saint Jean. 
Puissent mes vers être comme elle, 
Le régal des meilleures gens.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
17. The locust
Language: English 
Behold the fine locust,
The nourishment of St. John.
Would that my verses could be like her,
A feast for the very best folk.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2015 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: 2015-08-25
Line count: 4
Word count: 24

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall
18. Orphée
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Que ton cœur soit l'appât et le ciel, la piscine ! 
Car, pêcheur, quel poisson d'eau douce ou bien marine 
Égale-t-il, et par la forme et la saveur, 
Ce beau poisson divin qu'est JÉSUS, Mon Sauveur ?

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
18.
Language: English 
May your heart be the bait and your heart, the pool! 
Since, fisherman, what freshwater or saltwater fish
Can equal, in form and in taste, 
That beautiful, fish divine, JESUS, My Savior?

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard, (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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Translator's notes:
Line 2, word 2: similar sound to pécheur, meaning “sinner”
Line 4, word 7: similar sound to saveur, meaning “to know”



This text was added to the website: 2023-08-25
Line count: 4
Word count: 32

Translation © by Laura Prichard
19. Le Dauphin
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Dauphins, vous jouez dans la mer, 
Mais le flot est toujours amer. 
Parfois, ma joie éclate-t-elle? 
La vie est encore cruelle.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
19. The dolphin
Language: English 
Dolphins, you play in the sea,
But the tide is always bitter.
Perchance, my joy may burst forth?
But life is ever so cruel.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2015 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: 2015-08-25
Line count: 4
Word count: 24

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall
20. Le Poulpe
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Jetant son encre vers les cieux, 
Suçant le sang de ce qu'il aime 
Et le trouvant délicieux, 
Ce monstre inhumain, c'est moi-même.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
20. The Octopus
Language: English 
Squirting his ink at the sky,
sucking the blood of what he loves
and finding it delicious...
that inhuman monster is me.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 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: 2022-09-05
Line count: 4
Word count: 22

Translation © by Peter Low
21. La Méduse
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Méduses, malheureuses têtes 
Aux chevelures violettes 
Vous vous plaisez dans les tempêtes, 
Et je m'y plais comme vous faites.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
21. The Jellyfish
Language: English 
Jellyfish, unfortunate heads
with purple hair,
you enjoy storms,
and I enjoy them as you do.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 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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Translations of titles
"La Méduse" = "The Jellyfish"
"Les Méduses" = "Jellyfish"



This text was added to the website: 2022-09-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 16

Translation © by Peter Low
22. L'Écrevisse
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Incertitude, ô mes délices 
Vous et moi nous nous en allons 
Comme s'en vont les écrevisses, 
À reculons, à reculons.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
22. The crawfish
Language: English 
Uncertainty, oh my delight.
You and I, we go onward
Just like the crawfish,
Backwards, always backwards.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2015 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: 2015-08-25
Line count: 4
Word count: 17

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall
23. La Carpe
 (Sung text)
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.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
23. The carp
Language: English 
Within your environs, your pools,
Carp, you live such a long time!
Is it that Death has forgotten you,
Fish of woe?

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2015 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: 2015-08-25
Line count: 4
Word count: 22

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall
24. Orphée
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
La femelle de l'alcyon, 
L'Amour, les volantes Sirènes, 
Savent de mortelles chansons 
Dangereuses et inhumaines. 
N'oyez pas ces oiseaux maudits, 
Mais les Anges du paradis.

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Notes provided by Laura Prichard:
Line 1 : Classical mythology included references to female kingfishers nesting by the sea; the practice was said to cause the Gods to restrain the wind and waves.
Apollonaire’s notes to his Bestiary state (Laura Prichard's translation): “The sailors, hearing the female king-fisher sing, prepared to die, except around mid-December, when these birds make their nests, and the sea was believed to be calm. As for Love and the Sirens, these marvelous birds sing so harmoniously that life itself is not too high a price to pay for the pleasure of hearing such music.”

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
24.
Language: English 
The female kingfisher, 
Love, [and] the winged Sirens, 
Know deadly songs,
Dangerous and inhuman. 
Don’t listen to those cursed birds, 
But instead, the angels of paradise.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard, (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: 2023-08-25
Line count: 6
Word count: 26

Translation © by Laura Prichard
25. Les Sirènes
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Sachè-je d'où provient, Sirènes, votre ennui 
Quand vous vous lamentez, au large, dans la nuit ? 
Mer, je suis, comme toi, plein de voix machinées 
Et mes vaisseaux chantants se nomment les années.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
25. The sirens
Language: English 
Could I ever understand from where your ennui originates, Sirens,
When you lament, [your voices] carried on the wind, in the night? 
O Sea, I am, like you, full of machinating voices 
And my singing vessels are called years.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard, (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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Translations of titles
"Les Sirènes" = "The sirens"
"Sirènes" = "Sirens"



This text was added to the website: 2023-08-25
Line count: 4
Word count: 39

Translation © by Laura Prichard
26. La Colombe
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Colombe, l'amour et l'esprit
Qui engendrâtes Jésus-Christ,
Comme vous j'aime une Marie.
Qu'avec elle je me marie.

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
26. The dove
Language: English 
Dove, love and spirit
Who begat Jesus Christ,
Like you, I love a [girl named] Mary.
With her, I will marry.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Prichard, (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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Translator's note: "Dove" refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus. This poem plays with the different meaning of Mary and marry.


This text was added to the website: 2016-04-10
Line count: 4
Word count: 21

Translation © by Laura Prichard
27. Le Paon
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
En faisant la roue, cet oiseau, 
Dont le pennage traîne à terre, 
Apparaît encore plus beau, 
Mais se découvre le derrière.

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First published in the revue La Phalange, no. 24, June 15, 1908 as number 15 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).


by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
27. The Peacock
Language: English 
When he spreads his tail like a fan, this bird
whose plumage drags on the ground,
appears even more beautiful,
but exposes his behind.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 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: 2022-09-05
Line count: 4
Word count: 24

Translation © by Peter Low
28. Le Hibou
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Mon pauvre cœur est un hibou
Qu'on cloue, qu'on décloue, qu'on recloue.
De sang, d'ardeur, il est à bout.
Tous ceux qui m'aiment, je les loue.

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First published in the revue La Phalange, no. 24, June 15, 1908 as number 16 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).


by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
28. The Owl
Language: English 
My poor heart is an owl
which is nailed to a door, un-nailed, and nailed again.
It has reached the limit of its blood and its ardour.
I praise all the people who love me.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 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: 2022-09-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 35

Translation © by Peter Low
29. Ibis
 (Sung text)
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.

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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.


by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
29. Ibis
Language: English 
Yes, I'll go down to the earthy shades
O certain death, so be it! 
Deadly Latin [name], the dreadful word, 
Ibis, bird of the banks of the Nile.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard and Qi Feng Wu, (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: 2023-08-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 28

Translation © by Laura Prichard, Qi Feng Wu
30. Le Bœuf
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Ce chérubin dit la louange 
Du paradis, où, près des anges, 
Nous revivrons, mes chers amis 
Quand le bon Dieu l'aura permis.

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First appeared in the revue La Phalange, June 15, 1908, in "La Marchande des quatre saisons ou le bestiaire mondain" no. 18 of 18, and later in the 1911 publication of "Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée", Paris, Deplanche.

Note provided by Laura Prichard: In classical mythology, the ox is both a moon symbol (ridden by the goddess Diana/Artemis) and a sun symbol (representing kingly power and strength). Cherubim are sometimes depicted as winged oxen in European art.


by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire
30. The Ox
Language: English 
This cherub sings hymns of praise
Of paradise, where, near the angels, 
We’ll live again, my dear friends 
Whenever the good Lord allows.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard, (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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Translator's note for line 1: The French word louange is a contraction of “louer” (to praise) and “ange” (angel).



This text was added to the website: 2023-08-25
Line count: 4
Word count: 23

Translation © by Laura Prichard