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Dès que la grive est éveillée, Sur cette lande encor mouillée Je viens m'asseoir Jusques au soir; Grand mère de qui je me cache Dit: Loïc aime trop sa vache Oh! Oh! Nenni da! Mais j'aime la petite Anna. A son tour, Anna, ma compagne, Conduit derrière la montagne, Près des sureaux, Ses noirs chevreaux; Si la montagne, où je m'égare, Ainsi qu'un grand mur nous sépare, Sa douce voix, Sa voix m'appelle au fond du bois. Oh! sur un air plaintif et tendre, Qu'il est doux au loin de s'entendre, Sans même avoir L'heur de se voir! De la montagne à la vallée La voix par la voix appelée Semble un soupir Mêlé d'ennui et de plaisir. [Oui]1, retenez bien votre haleine, Brise étourdie, [ou]2 dans la plaine, Parmi les blés, Courez, volez! [Ah ! La méchante est la plus forte, Et dans les rochers elle emporte]3 La douce voix Qui m'appelait au fond du bois. Encore! Encore! Anna, ma belle! Anna, c'est Loïc qui t'appelle! Encore un son De ta chanson ! La chanson que chantent les lèvres, Lorsque pour amuser tes chèvres, Petite Anna, Tu [danses]4 ton gai ta-ra-la! Oh ! Te souvient-il de l'yeuse Où [tu montas, fille peureuse]5, Quand tout à coup Parut le loup ? Sur l'yeuse encor, ma mignonne, Que parmi les oiseaux résonne Ta douce voix, Ta voix qui chante au fond du bois ! Mais quelle est derrière la branche Cette fumée errante et blanche Qui [lentement]6 Vers moi descend ? Hélas ! Cette blanche fumée, C'est l'adieu de ma bien-aimée, L'adieu d'amour, Qui s'élève à la fin du jour. [Mais adieu,]7 contre un vent farouche Au travers des mes doigts ma bouche Dans ce ravin L'appelle en vain; Déjà la nuit vient sur la lande ; Rentrons au bourg, vache gourmande ! O gui-lan-la ! Adieu donc, ma petite Anna !
H. Berlioz sets stanzas 1-4
V. Massé sets stanzas 1 (lines 1-4), 2-3, 4 (lines 1-4), 5, 8
P. Viardot-García sets stanzas 1-2, 5, 7-8
N. Reber sets stanzas 1-2, 5-6
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Berlioz, Massé: "Ah"
2 Berlioz: "et"
3 Berlioz: "Dieu! la mèchante a sur son aile/ Emporté la voix douce et frêle"
4 Viardot: "chantes"
5 Reber: "tu fuis, agile et rieuse"
6 Viardot: "doucement"
7 Massé, Viardot: "Adieu donc !"
Text Authorship:
- by (Julien) Auguste Plage Brizeux (1803?6 - 1858), "Chanson de Loïc", written 1835, appears in Marie, first published 1860 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869), "Le jeune pâtre Breton", op. 13 no. 4 (1834), stanzas 1-4 [ voice and piano and horn (or orchestra) ], from Fleurs des Landes, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray (1840 - 1910), "Chanson de Loïc", published [1885] [ voice and piano ], from Six (Nouvelles) Mélodies, no. 4, Éd. Henri Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Pauline Duchambge (1778 - 1858), "Chanson du pays", published 1830? [ voice and piano ], Paris : J. Frey [sung text not yet checked]
- by Victor Massé (1822 - 1884), "La Chanson de Loïc", stanzas 1 (lines 1-4), 2-3, 4 (lines 1-4), 5, 8 [ high voice and piano ], from Chants bretons, no. 6, Éditions Léon Grus [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Napoléon-Henri Reber (1807 - 1880), "Chanson du pays", stanzas 1-2,5-6 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Pauline Viardot-García (1821 - 1910), "La chanson de Loïc", published 1850, stanzas 1-2,5,7-8 [ voice and piano ], from 10 Mélodies, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Young Breton shepherd", 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: 64
Word count: 309
Once the thrush is awake, On this still-damp heath I [will] come to sit until evening; Grandmother, from whom I'm hiding, Says: “Loïc loves his cow too much.” Oh! Oh! It’s not so! For I love little Anna. In turn, Anna, my companion, Leads, beyond the crest of the hill, Near the [grove of] elders, Her [flock of] black goats; So the mountain, where I wander, Just like a high wall, separates us, [But] her sweet voice, Her voice calls me from the depths of the woods. Oh! this plaintive and tender melody, How sweet it is to hear in the distance, Without even having The happiness of seeing each other! From the mountain to the valley The voice called by the other voice Seems like a sigh Equally mixed of sorrow and of pleasure. [Yes]1, hold your breath, Scatterbrained breeze, [otherwise]2 on the plain, Among the wheat, You [may] run, fly! [Ah! The wicked wind is the strongest, And has taken away the soft and frail voice]3 The sweet voice That calls me from the depths of the wood. Again! Again! Anna, my beauty! Anna, it's Loïc who calls you! Once more [to hear] the sound Of your song! The song sung by [your] lips, In order to amuse your goats, Little Anna, You [dance]4 your gay “Ta-ra-la!" Oh! Do you remember the holly tree You climbed, fearful girl, When all of a sudden The wolf appeared? Into the holly [where] still, my darling, Resonating among the birds Your sweet voice [is], Your voice which sings from the depths of the wood! But what is behind the branch This wandering, white smoke Which [slowly]5 Descends toward me? Alas! This white smoke, It’s the farewell of my beloved, The farewell of love, Which rises at the end of the day. [So farewell,]6 against a savage wind Through my fingers, my mouth In this ravine Calls in vain; Already night comes on the heath; Let’s go back to the village, greedy cow! Oh, gui-lan-la! Farewell, my little Anna!
Notes provided by Laura Prichard:
Line 1-5: Loïc is the old Provençal form of Louis, still common in France.
Line 2-2: "beyond the crest of the hill": literally, "behind the mountain"
Line 2-6: This phrase evokes the first line of Psalm 42: “Ainsi qu’on oit le cerf bruire" = "As the hart yearns for the waterbrooks"
Line 3-1: Literally, "on an air/melody, or, out of an air"
Line 3-4: "L'heur" = "le bonheur"
Line 6-1: "holly tree": known as the “holm oak,” a holly-like evergreen tree native to the Mediterranean, Quercus ilex.
Line 8-6: "greedy": in Norman: greedy; in modern French: one who eats a lot, esp. with a refined taste in food
Line 8-7: "guin-lan-la": meant to be a sad echo of "Ta-ra-la" from stanza 5 but "gui" also means "misteletoe" in French, and may refer to the white-berried evergreen from stanza 6.
2 Berlioz: "and"
3 Berlioz: "God! the wicked wind, on its wing / Has taken away the soft and frail voice;
4 Viardot: "sings"
5 Viardot: "sweetly"
6 Massé, Viardot: "Farewell!"
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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by (Julien) Auguste Plage Brizeux (1803?6 - 1858), "Chanson de Loïc", written 1835, appears in Marie, first published 1860
This text was added to the website: 2016-01-20
Line count: 64
Word count: 344