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by Maurice Bourgeaux (1884 - 1940), as Maurice Duhamel
Translation Singable translation by Rosa Harriet Jeaffreson Newmarch (1857 - 1940)

Vous ne pouviez savoir
Language: French (Français) 
Vous ne pouviez savoir, dimanche,
Que mon regard vous observait
A travers le rideau des branches,
A la fontaine Saint Hervé.

Saisissant s'une main furtive
Une épingle à votre côté,
Vous l'avez jetée en l'eau vive :
L'épingle s'est mise à flotter.

A peine, aviez-vous, blonde et preste,
Disparu dans le bois profond,
J'ai recommencé votre geste :
Mon épingle est allée au fond ...

Marycinthe, la destinée
Nous a fait connaître sa loi :
Vous, vous mariez cette année ;
Ce ne sera pas avec moi !

Text Authorship:

  • by Maurice Bourgeaux (1884 - 1940), as Maurice Duhamel [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 René-Emmanuel Baton (1879 - 1940), as Rhené-Baton, "Vous ne pouviez savoir", op. 50 no. 5 (1929), published 1929 [ medium voice and piano ], from Chansons pour Marycinthe, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Durand [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • ENG English [singable] (Rosa Harriet Jeaffreson Newmarch) , "You could not guess"


Researcher for this page: Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2020-09-21
Line count: 16
Word count: 82

You could not guess
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
You could not guess, my dear, on Sunday,
That closely watching you I lay
Behind a screen of leafy branches,
Beside the well of Saint Hervé.

I saw you secretly withdrawing
A pin from the coif you wear;
In the sparkling water you dropp'd it;
I saw how the pin floated there.

And hardly had you gone, disappearing
Down woodland glades as dark as night,
When I tried to copy your gesture:
But my pin sank, lost to sight ...

Marycinthe, 'tis all too clear!
Cruel fate proclaims her decree!
You, you will get married this year,
But you never may wed with me!

From the Baton score.


Text Authorship:

  • Singable translation by Rosa Harriet Jeaffreson Newmarch (1857 - 1940), "You could not guess" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in French (Français) by Maurice Bourgeaux (1884 - 1940), as Maurice Duhamel
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2020-09-21
Line count: 16
Word count: 103

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