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Nous sommes les Ingénues Aux bandeaux plats, à l'œil bleu, Qui vivons, presque inconnues, Dans les romans qu'on lit peu. Nous allons entrelacées, Et le jour n'est pas plus pur Que le fond de nos pensées, Et nos rêves sont d'azur ; Et nous courons par les [prées]1, Et rions et babillons Des aubes jusqu'aux vesprées, Et chassons aux papillons ; Et des chapeaux de bergères Défendent notre fraîcheur, Et nos robes — si légères — Sont d'une extrême blancheur ; Les Richelieux, les Caussades Et les chevaliers Faublas Nous prodiguent les œillades, Les saluts et les « hélas ! » Mais en vain, et leurs mimiques Se viennent casser le nez Devant les plis ironiques De nos jupons détournées ; Et notre candeur se raille Des imaginations De ces [raseurs]1 de muraille, Bien que parfois nous sentions Battre nos cœurs sous nos mantes À des pensers clandestins. En nous sachant les amantes Futures des libertins.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Poëmes saturniens, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1866, pages 69-71.
1 Koechlin, Loeffler: "près"; some editions: "prés"1 Koechlin: "rôdeurs"
Text Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "La chanson des Ingénues", appears in Poèmes saturniens, in 4. Caprices, no. 3, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1866 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Pierre-Louis Darricau , "Chanson des ingénues", [1937] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950), "La chanson des Ingénues", op. 22 (Quatre mélodies) no. 1 (1901) [ voice and piano or unison chorus ], Paris, L. Philippo [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Martin Tornov Loeffler (1861 - 1935), "La chanson des Ingénues" [ voice, viola, and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Raymond Loucheur (1899 - 1979), "La chanson des Ingénues", [1936] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean-Louis Petit (b. 1937), "La chanson des ingénues", 1997 [ high voice and piano ], from Livre de poésies, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Richard von Schaukal (1874 - 1942) , "Das Lied der völlig Arglosen" ; composed by Artur Immisch, Georg Trexler.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Bergen Weeks Applegate) , "Song of the Ingénues", appears in Poems Saturnine, in 4. Caprices, no. 3
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 154
We are the naïve girls with flat headbands and blue eyes who live almost unnoticed in novels that are seldom read. We walk arm in arm together; daylight is not more pure than our innermost thoughts; and our dreams are of azure skies. We run across the meadows, we giggle and prattle from dawn till dusk, and we chase butterflies. Our shepherdess hats protect our freshness, and our dresses – so flimsy – are extremely white. Priests like Richelieu or Caussade, or knights like Faublas, are lavish with winking and greeting and sighs of “Alas!”, but in vain – their gestures draw a total blank when faced with the ironic pleats of our skirts as we turn away. Our artlessness mocks the imaginings of those sneaky men… although sometimes we feel our hearts beating under our cloaks in response to secret thoughts, and know that we are the future mistresses of libertines.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles
"Chanson des ingénues" = "Song of the Ingénues"
"La chanson des Ingénues" = "The Song of the Ingénues"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 by Peter Low, (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 Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "La chanson des Ingénues", appears in Poèmes saturniens, in 4. Caprices, no. 3, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1866
This text was added to the website: 2019-08-23
Line count: 32
Word count: 152