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À Strasbourg en dix-neuf-cent-quatre J'arrivai pour le lundi gras À l'hôtel m'assis devant l'âtre Près d'un chanteur de l'Opéra Qui ne parlait que de théâtre La Kellnerine rousse avait Mis sur sa tête un chapeau rose Comme Hébé qui les dieux servait N'en eut jamais. Ô belles choses Carnaval chapeau rose Ave! À Rome à Nice et à Cologne Dans les fleurs et les confetti Carnaval j'ai revu ta trogne, Ô roi plus riche et plus gentil Que Crésus Rothschild et Torlogne Je soupai d'un peu de foie gras De chevreuil tendre à la compôte De tartes flans et cetera Un peu de kirsch me ravigote Que ne t'avais-je entre mes bras.
Text Authorship:
- by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "1904", written 1914, appears in Il y a, Paris, Éd. Messein, first published 1925 [author's text not yet checked 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 Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "1904", FP 58 no. 4 (1931) [ medium voice and piano ], from Quatre Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "1904", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "1904", 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: 20
Word count: 112
In Strasbourg in nineteen hundred and four I arrived the Monday before Lent At the hotel, I sat down by the fire Next to a singer from the opera Who spoke of nothing but the theater. The red-headed German barmaid had Put a pink hat on her head Better looking than [any worn by] Hebe (who served the gods) Ever had. Oh, such beautiful things: Carnival pink hat, Hail to you! To Rome, to Nice and to Cologne In the flowers and the confetti Carnival, I have seen again your face Oh king, richer and gentler Than Croesus, Rothschild and Torlogne. I supped on a bit of foie gras Of tender venison with stewed fruit On custard tarts etc. A swig of kirsch bucked me up If only you had been in my arms.
Line 1-2: "Lent" - Two days before the 40-day period of Lent begins: the day just preceding “Fat Tuesday” or Mardi gras.
Line 2-3: "Hebe" - the daughter of Zeus and Hera, Hebe embodies youth and served the nectar of eternal youth to the Gods of Olympus.
Line 2-5: "Carnival" - Carnevale is comes from the Italianate name for the festival preceding Lent, possibly from “Carne vale,” or “goodbye to meat."
Line 3-2: "confetti" - confetti originally referred to the plastic pellets thrown during Carnival in Nice, France.
Line 3-3: "face" - insulting, more like “your ugly mug” in English slang.
Line 3-5: "Croesus" - Ancient (Greek) king of Lydia who was renowned for his wealth; "Rothschild" - a leading European banking family dynasty; "Torlogne" - French for Torlonia, a rich Italian family of the 19th century
This song was dedicated to Marie Fontaine AKA Mrs. Jean-Arthur Fontaine. Jean-Arthur was the eldest son of Arthur Fontaine (1860-1931), influent patron of the arts and Ernest Chausson’s brother-in-law.
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 Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "1904", written 1914, appears in Il y a, Paris, Éd. Messein, first published 1925
This text was added to the website: 2016-04-10
Line count: 20
Word count: 134