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L'abbé divague. — Et toi, marquis Tu mets de travers ta perruque. — Ce vieux vin de Chypre est exquis Moins, Camargo, que votre nuque. — Ma flamme... — Do, mi, sol, la, si. — L'abbé, ta noirceur se dévoile. — Que je meure, mesdames, si Je ne vous décroche une étoile — Je voudrais être petit chien ! — Embrassons nos bergères, l'une Après l'autre. — Messieurs ! eh bien ? — Do, mi, sol. - Hé ! bonsoir, la Lune !
Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 5-6.
Note for stanza 1, line 4, word 2: Camargo was an eighteenth-century ballerina.
Text Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Sur l'herbe", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 3, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Raoul Laparra (1876 - 1943), "Sur l'herbe", published 1927 [ voice and piano ], from Pastels, suite de mélodies sur des Fétes galantes , no. 3, Paris, Gallet [sung text not yet checked]
- by Lucien Legras , "Sur l'herbe", published [1954] [ voice and piano ], Paris, L. Legras [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fernand Ochsé (1879 - 1944), "Sur l'herbe", 1908, published 1913 [ voice and piano ], from Le Parc, no. 2, Berlin, Fürstner [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gustave Oudot , "Sur l'herbe", [1948] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Willem Pijper (1894 - 1947), "Sur l'herbe", 1916, published 1947 [ mezzo-soprano and piano or orchestra ], from Fêtes galantes, no. 2, Amsterdam, Donemus [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Irena Regina Poldowski (1880 - 1932), "Sur l'herbe", 1913, published 1918 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Rœder [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937), "Sur l'herbe", M. 53 (1907), published 1907 [ voice and piano ], from Douze chants avec accompagnement de piano, no. 12, Paris, Durand [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Aimée Strohl (1865 - 1941), "Sur l'herbe", [1897] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "On the grass", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 77
The abbot rambles. - And you, Marquis, You have put your wig on askew. - This old wine from Cyprus is exquisite Less, Camargo, than the nape of your neck. - My love... Do, mi, sol, la, si. - Abbot, your darkness reveals itself. - May I die, Ladies, if I fail to unhook a star for each of you! - I would like to be a little dog! [We] embrace our shepherdesses, the one After the other. - Gentlemen, well then? Do, mi, sol. - Hey! good evening, moon!
Line 1-4: "Camargo" - Marie-Anne de Cupis de Camargo (1720-1770) was a leading ballet dancer at the Paris Opéra who appeared in a famous pastoral portrait by Lancret.
Line 2-1: "My love" - literally, "my flame"
Line 2-1: "Do, mi, sol, la, si" - the tones C, E, G, A, B
Line 2-2: "your darkness" - referring to the figurative quailty of being base, bad, or evil
Line 3-4: "Do, mi, sol" - the tones C, E, G
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 Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Sur l'herbe", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 3, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869
This text was added to the website: 2016-02-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 82