La vieille petite table | Grince, petite chose en bois, grince

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by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)

Translation © by Christopher Park

The little old table

Language: English

Our translations: FRE

Creak, little wood thing, creak,
When I touch you with elbow or knee;
That is the way you speak
Of one who gave you to me!

You, little table, she brought -
Brought me with her own hand,
As she looked at me with a thought
That I did not understand.

- Whoever owns it anon,
And hears it, will never know
What a history hangs upon
This creak from long ago.

Text Authorship:

by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "The Little Old Table", appears in Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses, first published 1922 [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "The little old table", op. 52 no. 4 (1953), published 1954 [ high voice, piano ], from Winter words, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

FRE French (Français) (Christopher Park) , "La vieille petite table", copyright © 2022, (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: 12
Word count: 70

La vieille petite table

Language: French (Français) after the English

Grince, petite chose en bois, grince,
Quand je te touche du coude ou du genou ;
C'est ainsi que tu parles
De celle qui t'a donné à moi !
 
Toi, petite table, elle t'a apporté -
Elle t'a apporté de sa propre main,
Alors qu'elle me regardait avec une pensée
que je ne comprenais pas.
 
- Celui qui la possède maintenant,
Et entend cela, ne saura jamais
Quelle histoire se cache derrière
Ce grincement d'il y a longtemps.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2022 by Christopher Park, (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 English by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "The Little Old Table", appears in Late Lyrics and Earlier with Many Other Verses, first published 1922
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2022-06-26
Line count: 12
Word count: 74