Les donneurs de sérénades
Et les belles écouteuses
Échangent des propos fades
Sous les ramures chanteuses.

C'est Tircis et c'est Aminte,
Et c'est l'éternel Clitandre,
Et c'est Damis qui pour mainte
Cruelle fait maint vers tendre.

Leurs courtes vestes de soie,
Leurs longues robes à queues,
Leur élégance, leur joie
Et leurs molles ombres bleues

Tourbillonnent dans l'extase
D'une lune rose et grise,
Et la mandoline jase
Parmi les frissons de brise.

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Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 33-34. Note: All the ampersands (&) that appeared in the first publication were changed to "et".

Note: first appeared in La Gazette rimée, February 20, 1867, under the title "Trumeau", and then in Fêtes galantes, Paris, éd. Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, under the title "Mandoline".

Text Authorship:

• by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), title 1: "Mandoline", title 2: "Trumeau", written 1867, appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 15, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1867 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Nicolas Gounin [Guest Editor] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
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Word count: 73