From a winnower of wheat to the winds | To you, light troop

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.

by Joachim du Bellay (1525 - c1560)

Translation © by David Jonathan Justman

Du vanneur de blé aux vents

(Sung text for setting by G. Strong)

See original

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

À vous, trouppe légère,
  Qui d'aile passagère
    Par le monde volez,
Et, d'un sifflant murmure
  L'ombrageuse verdure
    Doucement ébranlez,

J'offre ces violettes,
  Ces lis, et ces fleurettes,
    Et ces roses ici,
Ces vermeillettes roses,
  Tout fraichement écloses,
    Et ces oeillets aussi.

De votre douce haleine
  Éventez cette plaine,
    Éventez ce séjour:
Ce pendant que j'ahanne
  À mon blé, que je vanne
    À la chaleur du jour.

Composition:

George Templeton Strong

Text Authorship:

by Joachim du Bellay (1525 - c1560), "D'un vanneur de bled aux vents", written c1549, appears in Divers Jeux Rustiques, no. 3

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (David Jonathan Justman) , "From a winnower of wheat to the winds", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Laura Stanfield Prichard [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 67

From a winnower of wheat to the winds

(Sung text translation for setting by G. Strong)

See original

Language: English after the French (Français)

To you, light troop,
Who with wings of passage
fly through the world,
And with a whistling murmur
Gently ruffle
The shadowed greenery,

I offer these violets,
These lilies, and these little flowers,
And these roses here,
These ruddy roses,
All freshly bloomed,
And these carnations also.

With your gentle breath
Fan this plain,
Fan this place of sojourn:
While I breathe 
deeply over my wheat
In the heat of the day.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by David Jonathan Justman, (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 French (Français) by Joachim du Bellay (1525 - c1560), "D'un vanneur de bled aux vents", written c1549, appears in Divers Jeux Rustiques, no. 3
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 72