The tea | Miss Ellen, pour the tea for me

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891)

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Le thé

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Miss Ellen, versez-moi le Thé
Dans la belle tasse chinoise,
Où des poissons d'or cherchent noise
Au monstre rose épouvanté.

J'aime la folle cruauté
Des chimères qu'on apprivoise:
Miss Ellen, versez-moi le Thé
Dans la belle tasse chinoise.

Là sous un ciel rouge irrité,
Une dame fière et sournoise
Montre en ses longs yeux de turquoise
L'extase et la naïveté:
Miss Ellen, versez-moi le Thé.

Text Authorship:

by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), "Le thé", appears in Les Exilés, in Rondels, no. 16, first published 1875 [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), "Le thé", op. 1 (5 rondels [in fact, 6]) no. 3 (1890-1894), published [1896] [ voice and piano ], Éd. E. Baudoux & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "The tea", 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: 65

The tea

Language: English after the French (Français)

Miss Ellen, pour the tea for me
Into the beautiful Chinese cup,
Where goldfish pick a fight
With a terrified pink monster.

I love the wild cruelty
Of the chimeras that are tamed:
Miss Ellen, pour the tea for me
Into the beautiful Chinese cup.

There, under an angry red sky,
A proud and sneaky lady
Shows, in her long turquoise eyes,
Ecstasy and purity:
Miss Ellen, pour the tea for me.

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), "Le thé", appears in Les Exilés, in Rondels, no. 16, first published 1875
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-05-17
Line count: 13
Word count: 72