Is there a corner more solitary | Is there a corner more solitary

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by Max Jacob (1876 - 1944)

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Est‑il un coin plus solitaire

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Est-il un coin plus solitaire
à cheval j’irai le chercher
trop d’hommes sont au monastère
trop de femmes vont au marché
de livres à mon belvédère
trop d’habits pendus aux crochets
trop de papiers sur l’étagère
trop de viande au garde-manger
O! Narcisse o folie
O ma tête à deux mains
O Perse! O le pays de la rose jolie
si tu n’étais là-bas
j’irais te voir demain.

Text Authorship:

by Max Jacob (1876 - 1944), appears in Ballades, first published 1938 [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), "Est-il un coin plus solitaire", FP. 22 no. 1 [baritone and woodwinds], from Quatre poèmes de Max Jacob, no. 1. [ sung text verified 1 time]

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Is there a corner more solitary", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Laura Prichard [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-01-04
Line count: 13
Word count: 68

Is there a corner more solitary

Language: English after the French (Français)

Is there a corner more solitary
on horseback I’ll go searching for it
too many men are at the monastery
too many women go to
the book market at my belvedere
too many clothes hanging on the hooks
too much paper on the shelf
too much meat in the larder
Oh Narcissus, oh madness
Oh my head in my hands
Oh Persia! Oh the land of the pretty rose
if you weren't down there
I’d go see you tomorrow.

Translator's note: a "belvedere" is a raised structure offering a peasant view of the surrounding area

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2018 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 Max Jacob (1876 - 1944), appears in Ballades, first published 1938
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2018-01-04
Line count: 13
Word count: 79