by
Léon-Paul Fargue (1876 - 1947)
La statue de bronze
See originalLanguage: French (Français)
La grenouille
Du jeu de tonneau
S'ennuie, le soir, sous la tonnelle...
Elle en a assez!
D'être la statue
Qui va prononcer un grand mot: Le Mot!
Elle aimerait mieux être avec les autres
Qui font des bulles de musique
Avec le savon de la lune
Au bord du lavoir mordoré
Qu'on voit, là-bas, luire entre les branches...
On lui lance à coeur de journée
Une pâture de pistoles
Qui la traversent sans lui profiter
Et s'en vont sonner
Dans les cabinets
De son piédestal numéroté!
Et le soir, les insectes couchent
Dans sa bouche...
...
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-5 of the original text.
Composition:
Text Authorship:
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Shawn Thuris) (Dr Melissa Givens) , "The bronze statue", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Dr Melissa Givens
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 184
Language: English after the French (Français)
The frog
Of the barrel game
Grows weary at evening, beneath the arbor...
She has had enough!
Of being the statue
Who is about to pronounce a great word: The Word!
She would love to be with the others
Who make music bubbles
With the soap of the moon
Beside the lustrous bronze tub
That one sees there, shining between the branches...
At midday one hurls at her
A feast of discs
That pass through without benefit to her
And will resound
In the chambers
Of her numbered pedestal!
And at night, the insects go to sleep
In her mouth...
...
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-5 of the original text.
Note: the first five stanzas were translated by Shawn Thuris for the Satie setting; the rest of the translation was provided by Meg Givens.
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Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Shawn Thuris and Dr Melissa Givens, (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:
- a text in French (Français) by Léon-Paul Fargue (1876 - 1947), "La statue de bronze"
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 202
