Triste rivière | Rivière, toi qui viens de contrées étrangères

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by Stefan Witwicki (1801 - 1847)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

Smutna rzeka

Language: Polish (Polski)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Rzeko z cudzoziemców strony,
Czemu nurt twój tak zmącony?
Czy się gdzie zapadły brzegi,
Czy stopniały stare, stare śniegi?

Leżą w górach stare śniegi,
Kwiatem kwitną moje brzegi,
Ale tam, przy źródle moim,
Płacze matka nad mym zdrojem.

Siedem córek piastowała,
Siedem córek zakopała,
Siedem córek śród ogrodu,
Głowami przeciwko wschodu, wschodu.

Teraz się z duchami wita,
O wygody dziatki pyta
I mogiły ich polewa,
I żałośne pieśni śpiewa.

Text Authorship:

by Stefan Witwicki (1801 - 1847) [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 Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849), "Smutna rzeka", op. 74 no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Henzen (1850 - 1910) , "Trübe Wellen" ; composed by Paul Hoppe.

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Doleful river", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Triste rivière", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Ferdinand Gumbert) , "Trübe Wellen"
GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Georg Friedrich Reiß) , "Trübe Wellen"

Research team for this page: Gerhard Dangel , Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2003-12-27
Line count: 16
Word count: 69

Triste rivière

Language: French (Français) after the Polish (Polski)

Rivière, toi qui viens de contrées étrangères,
Pourquoi ton courant est-il si triste ?
Tes rives se sont-elles effondrées quelque part,
Ou les vieilles, vieilles neiges ont fondu ?

Dans les montagnes sont les vieilles neiges,
Les fleurs fleurissent sur mes rives,
Mais là-bas, à ma source, 
Ma mère pleure près de ma source.

De sept filles, elle prenait soin,
Elle a enterré sept filles 
Sept filles au milieu du jardin,
Les têtes tournées vers l'est.

Maintenant elle salue les esprits de ses enfants,
Et les petits enfants demandent du réconfort,
Et elle arrose leurs tombes,
Et chante des chants de deuil.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Polish (Polski) to French (Français) copyright © 2017 by Guy Laffaille, (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 Polish (Polski) by Stefan Witwicki (1801 - 1847)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-01-14
Line count: 16
Word count: 100