La Peureuse
Language: French (Français)
Lison revenait au village,
-C’était le soir-
Elle aperçut sur son passage
-Il faisait noir;-
Accourir le jeune Sylvandre,
Lison eut peur.
Elle ne voulut pas l’attendre;
C’est un malheur.
Refrain
C’était le soir
Il faisait noir,
Lison eut peur,
C’est un malheur.
Que pouvait faire cette belle?
-C’était le soir-
Sylvandre court plus vite qu’elle;
-Il faisait noir;-
Il la joint et soudain l’arrête;
Lison eut peur.
La peur la fit choir sur l’herbette,
C’est un malheur.
Refrain
Quand Lison fut ainsi tombée,
-C’était le soir-
Le berger, à la dérobée,
-Il faisait noir;-
Voulut ravir certaine rose.
Lison eut peur.
La peur ne sert pas à grand’ chose,
C’est un malheur.
Refrain
Personne n’était sur la route;
-C’était le soir-
Bientôt Lison n’y vit plus goutte.
-Il faisait noir;-
Sa taille devint moins légère,
Lison eut peur.
L’hiver d’après, elle était mère,
C’est un malheur.
Refrain
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , "The fearful girl", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Garrett Medlock
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2019-01-07
Line count: 40
Word count: 148
The fearful girl
Language: English after the French (Français)
Lison was returning to the village,
-It was evening-
She spied on her way
-It was black-
Rushing [toward her] the young Sylvandre,
Lison was afraid.
She did not want to wait for him [to catch up];
It is a shame1.
Refrain
It was evening
It was black,
Lison was afraid,
It is a shame.
What could this beauty do?
-It was evening-
Sylvandre runs faster than she;
-It was black-
He meets her and suddenly stops her;
Lison was afraid.
Fear made her fall onto the grass,
It is a shame.
Refrain
When Lison [had] fallen this way,
-It was evening-
The shepherd, in secret,
-It was black-
Wanted to steal [a] certain rose.
Lison was afraid.
Fear [is of no great use,]
It is a shame.
Refrain
No one was on the road;
-It was evening-
Soon Lison no longer saw a thing.
-It was black-
Her [figure] became less light,
Lison was afraid.
The next winter, she was [a] mother,
It is a shame.
Refrain
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Or more severely, "tragedy," but the text's delivery suggests a certain indifference.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 by Garrett Medlock, (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:
This text was added to the website: 2019-01-07
Line count: 40
Word count: 170
