Winter | In the Bois de Boulogne, winter

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by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891)

Translation © by Laura Prichard

L'hiver

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Au bois de Boulogne, l'Hiver,
La terre a son manteau de neige.
Mille Iris, qui tendent leur piège,
Y passent comme un vif éclair.

Toutes, sous le ciel gris et clair,
Nous chantent le même solfège;
Au bois de Boulogne, l'Hiver,
La terre a son manteau de neige.

Toutes les blancheurs de la chair
Y passent, radieux cortège;
Les Antiopes de Corrège
S'habillent de martre et de vair
Au bois de Boulogne, l'Hiver.

Text Authorship:

by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), "L'hiver", written 1875, appears in Les Exilés, in Rondels, no. 6, Paris, Édition Charpentier, first published 1878 [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 Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950), "L'hiver", op. 8 no. 2 (1891-1895), published [1897] [ high voice and piano ], from Rondels 2ème série, no. 2, Éd. E. Baudoux & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Winter", 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: 13
Word count: 73

Winter

Language: English after the French (Français)

In the Bois de Boulogne, winter,
The earth has her cloak of snow.
A thousand irises, laying their traps,
Pass like a bright flash.

Everything under the clear, bright sky
Sings to us with the same tune;
In the Bois de Boulogne, winter,
The earth has her cloak of snow.

All the whiteness of the flesh
Passes in radiant procession;
The Antiope of Corrège
Dressed in marten and Russian squirrel fur
In the Bois de Boulogne, winter.

Translator's notes:
Line 1-1: "Bois de Boulogne" - a large forested park in the center of Paris
Line 2-2: French schools teach unison singing with solfège syllables (fixed “do” system).
Line 3-3: "Antiope of Corrège": Antonio da Coreggio’s painting Venus, Cupid, and Satyr (c1525) depicts a female nude with ivory skin in a pastoral setting: it is thought to depict a scene from the seduction of Antiope by Zeus in Greek mythology.

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 Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), "L'hiver", written 1875, appears in Les Exilés, in Rondels, no. 6, Paris, Édition Charpentier, first published 1878
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-05-17
Line count: 13
Word count: 77