La Puce
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.
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.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Claude Ballif (1924 - 2004), "La Puce", op. 1b no. 16 (1945-48), published 1994 [ voice and piano ], from Le Cortège d’Orphée, no. 16, Édition Durand & Fils [sung text not yet checked]
- by Régis Campo (b. 1968), "La Puce", 2007-08 [ soprano and orchestra or piano ], from Le Bestiaire, no. 7, Éd. Henry Lemoine (piano reduction) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Durey (1888 - 1979), "La Puce", op. 17a no. 16 (1919), from Le Bestiaire, no. 16 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "La Puce", 1960 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "The flea", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 4
Word count: 21
The flea
Language: English after the French (Français)
Fleas, friends, lovers even,
They are cruel, those who love us!
All our blood flows for them1.
The beloved are unhappy.
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Ssatirical, since this is simlar in phrasing to section of the Catholic communion rite: “…his body, given for us."
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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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2016-04-10
Line count: 4
Word count: 21