In the street, at evening | Nine o’clock. You hear them beating the retreat

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by François Coppée (1842 - 1908)

Translation © by Michael Berridge

Dans la rue, le soir

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Neuf heures. On entend la retraite aux tambours.
Les grisettes s'en vont du côté des faubourgs,
Après avoir fini la tâche journalière.
C'est comme un coup de pied dans une fourmilière;
En waterproof, avec le petit sac de cuir,
Rapides, on les voit de tous les côtés s'enfuir
Vers la famille ou vers les amours clandestines.
- Blanchisseuses de fin, piqueuses de bottines,
Filles de Montparnasse et de Ménilmontant,
Heureux, si son coeur bat, celui qui vous attend.

Confirmed with Oeuvres Complètes de François Coppée Paris L. Hébert 1885 Poésies - Tome II p.98

Text Authorship:

by François Coppée (1842 - 1908), "Dans la rue, le soir" [author's text checked 1 time 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 Henri Marteau (1874 - 1934), "Dans la rue, le soir", op. 19b no. 8 (c1917) [ voice and piano ], from Huit Mélodies pour chant avec accompagnement de piano, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Michael Berridge) , "In the street, at evening", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-01-16
Line count: 10
Word count: 77

In the street, at evening

Language: English after the French (Français)

Nine o’clock. You hear them beating the retreat.
The working girls go home to the suburbs
from their daily occupations.
It is like a foot thrust into an anthill.
In mackintoshes, with their little leather bags,
you see them hurrying this way and that,
to their families or to secret lovers,
laundresses of lace, sewers of boots,
girls from Montparnasse and Ménilmontant,
happy the one whose heart beats faster waiting for you!

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2020 by Michael Berridge, (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 François Coppée (1842 - 1908), "Dans la rue, le soir"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2020-01-11
Line count: 10
Word count: 72