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Pépita reine de Venise Quand tu vas sous ton mirador Tous les gondoliers se disent: Prends garde... Toréador! Sur ton coeur personne ne règne Dans le grand palais où tu dors Et près de toi la vieille duègne Guette le Toréador. Toréador brave des braves Lorsque sur la place Saint marc Le taureau en fureur qui bave Tombe tué par ton poignard. Ce n'est pas l'orgueil qui caresse Ton coeur sous la baouta d'or Car pour une jeune déesse Tu brûles Toréador. Belle Espagnole Dans ta gondole Tu caracoles Carmencita Sous ta mantille Oeil qui pétille Bouche qui brille C'est Pépita. C'est demain jour de Saint Escure Qu'aura lieu le combat à mort Le canal est plein de voitures Fêtant le Toréador! De Venise plus d'une belle Palpite pour savoir ton sort Mais tu méprises leurs dentelles Tu souffres Toréador. Car ne voyant pas apparaître. Caché derrière un oranger, Pépita seule à sa fenêtre Tu médites de te venger, Sous ton caftan passe ta dague La jalousie au coeur te mord Et seul avec le bruit des vagues Tu pleures toréador. Belle Espagnole Dans ta gondole Tu caracoles Carmencita Sous ta mantille Oeil qui pétille Bouche qui brille C'est Pépita. Que de cavaliers! que de monde! Remplit l'arène jusqu'au bord On vient de cent lieues à la ronde T'acclamer Toréador! C'est fait il entre dans l'arène Avec plus de flegme qu'un lord. Mais il peut avancer a peine Le pauvre Toréador. Il ne reste à son rêve morne Que de mourir sous tous les yeux En sentant pénétrer des cornes Dans son triste front soucieux Car Pépita se montre assise Offrant son regard et son corps Au plus vieux doge de Venise Et rit du toréador. Belle Espagnole Dans ta gondole Tu caracoles Carmencita Sous ta mantille Oeil qui pétille Bouche qui brille C'est Pépita.
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Text Authorship:
- by Jean Cocteau (1889 - 1963) [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), "Toréador", subtitle: "Chanson Hispano-Italienne", FP. 11 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Toreador", copyright © 2019, (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: 72
Word count: 305
Pépita, Queen of Venice, When you appear at your balcony All the gondoliers say to themselves: Take care... Toréador! Over your heart, nobody reings In the grand palace where you sleep And near you, the old duenna Is on the lookout for the Toreador. Toreador bravest of the brave When on St. Mark’s Square The raging bull, drooling, Falls dead by your hand, It’s not pride that swells Your heart under the golden mantle Because for a young goddess You burn, Toreador. Beautiful Spanish lady In your gondola You’re sitting pretty Carmencita! Under your lace veil Eyes that sparkle Lips that shine It's Pépita. Tomorrow is Saint Somebody’s Day When the fight to the death will happen The Grand Canal is full of vehicles Celebrating the Toreador! In Venice, more than one beauty Trembles to know your fate But you scorn their lacy finery, You suffer, Toreador. Because you haven’t seen her appear yet, As you hide behind an orange tree, Pépita alone at her window, You meditate on taking revenge. Under your caftan rests your dagger Jealousy bites at your heart And alone with the sound of the waves You weep, Toreador. Beautiful Spanish lady In your gondola You’re sitting pretty Carmencita! Under your lace veil Eyes that sparkle Lips that shine It's Pépita. What horsemen! So many people! Filling the arena to the brim They’ve come from a hundred leagues away To cheer you, Toreador! It’s done! He enters the arena With greater composure than a lord. But he can scarcely advance into the ring The poor Toréador. All that’s left of his dismal dream Is that of dying before their eyes Feeling the penetration of the bull’s horns Into his sad, anxious forehead. Since Pépita is displaying herself seated Offering her attentions and her body To the oldest magistrate in Venice And laughing at the Toreador. Beautiful Spanish lady In your gondola You’re sitting pretty Carmencita!6 Under your lace veil Eyes that sparkle Lips that shine It's Pépita.
Translator's notes:
Line 1-2. A "mirador" is a tower offering a panoramic view; in the case of Venice’s Piazza San Marco, this could refer to an upper floor of the shaded balconies lining the square, or to the Campanile of St. Mark’s Church, which had just been rebuilt (1912) after the collapse of the former campanile in 1902.
Line 1-4. Mocking the phrase used in fencing (“En garde!”), in which one takes the opening position for action
Line 2-3. A "duenna" is a governess or chaperone for girls, esp. in a Spanish family
Line 3-2. St. Mark's Square refers to Venice’s Piazza San Marco
Line 3-4. Literally, dagger. In the final stage of a bullfight, the tercio de muerte [part of death], the matador carries a small red muleta cape and an estoca sword, with which he endeavors to kill the bull in one strike (an estocada).
Line 4-2. Matadors wear chaquetilla jackets simulating armor, covered with metallic threads (usually gold or silver) and sequins; the poet may also be humourously referring to the Venetian word for nightgown (bauta)
Line 5-4. "Carmencita" is a diminutive form of the name Carmen (song, charm); the poet could also be referring to a well-known music-hall and film dancer known as La Carmencita (Carmen Dauset Moreno, 1868-1910)
Line 6-1. Bullfights as a rule are celebrated as an element of religious festivities celebrating local patron saints. Since there is no “Saint Éscure,” the poet may be creating a comic portmanteau of the word “obscur” [obscure] and the French city of Éscures, near the Spanish border.
Line 9-1. A "caftan" is a long floor-length tunic, typical of the eastern Mediterranean
Line 12-2. Literally, “with more phlegm,” refering to the cold, moist bodily humor associated with calmness and composure.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 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 Jean Cocteau (1889 - 1963)
This text was added to the website: 2019-07-16
Line count: 72
Word count: 331