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by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll
Translation by Henri Bué (1843 - 1929)

'Tis the voice of the Lobster: I heard...
Language: English 
'Tis the voice of the Lobster: I heard him declare
"You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair."
As a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose
Trims his belt and his buttons, and turns out his toes.
When the sands are all dry, he is gay as a lark,
And will talk in contemptuous tones of the Shark;
But, when the tide rises and sharks are around,
His voice has a timid and tremulous sound.

I passed by his garden, and marked, with one eye,
How the Owl and the Panther were sharing a pie:
The Panther took pie-crust, and gravy, and meat,
While the Owl had the dish as its share of the treat.
When the pie was all finished, the Owl, as a boon,
Was kindly permitted to pocket the spoon;
While the Panther received knife and fork with a growl,
And concluded the banquet by --- 1

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Note: Alice's recitation is interrupted by the Mock Turtle, who calls the poem "the most confusing thing I ever heard"; in Nicholson's setting, the final words are added in a whisper: "eating the owl". Further changes may exist not noted above.

Text Authorship:

  • by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll, no title, appears in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, London, Macmillan ; chapter 10, first published 1865 [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 George Nicholson (b. 1949), "I passed by his garden", 1984 [ soprano and piano ], from Peripheral Visions, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by David Evan Thomas (b. 1958), "'Tis the voice of the Lobster", published 2004, first performed 2004 [ SATB chorus, piano, and incidental percussion ], from Earthly Delights, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Henri Bué) , no title


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-01-25
Line count: 16
Word count: 155

C’est la voix du homard, je l’entends...
Language: French (Français)  after the English 
C’est la voix du homard, je l’entends déclarer
« Vous m’avez trop grillé, et pas assez sucré. »
Comme fait le canard, avec son nez rugueux,
Il astique sa pince et peigne ses cheveux.
Quand le sable est sec, il est gai comme un pinson,
Et parle du requin, méprisant, sur un de ces tons !
Mais quand monte le flot et que le squale est proche,
Sa voix n’est plus qu’un timide et tremblant reproche.

En passant devant son jardin, je pus observer
Comment le Hibou et la Panthère se partageaient un pâté.
La Panthère prit la croûte, la viande et le jus
Tandis que le Hibou n’eut que l’assiette comme dû.
Une fois le plat terminé, le Hibou eu l’avantage
D’empocher la cuillère en guise de potage,
Tandis que la Panthère, dans un grondement,
Saisissait fourchette et couteau promptement…

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Henri Bué (1843 - 1929), no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll, no title, appears in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, London, Macmillan ; chapter 10, first published 1865
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2016-04-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 140

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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