Fiers chanteurs | Les grives chantent quand le soleil se couche

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by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)

Translation © by Christopher Park

Proud songsters

Language: English

Our translations: FRE

The thrushes sing as the sun is going,
And the finches whistle in ones and pairs,
And as it gets dark loud nightingales
   In bushes
Pipe, as they can when April wears,
   As if all Time were theirs.

These are brand-new birds of twelve-months' growing,
Which a year ago, or less than twain,
No finches were, nor nightingales,
   Nor thrushes,
But only particles of grain,
   And earth, and air, and rain.

First published in Daily Telegraph, April 1928

Text Authorship:

by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "Proud songsters" [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Proud songsters", op. 52 no. 6 (1953), published 1954 [ high voice and piano ], from Winter words, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "Proud songsters", op. 15 no. 10, published 1936 [ baritone, piano ], from Earth and Air and Rain, no. 10 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Stephen Wilkinson (b. 1919), "Proud songsters" [ voice and piano ], from Eternal Summer, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

FRE French (Français) (Christopher Park) , "Fiers chanteurs", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 71

Fiers chanteurs

Language: French (Français) after the English

Les grives chantent quand le soleil se couche,
Et les pinsons sifflent seuls ou par deux,
Et quand la nuit tombe, les rossignols bruyants
   Dans les buissons
Pipeautent, comme ils peuvent quand Avril s’épuise,
   Comme si le temps tout entier leur appartenait.
 
Ces oiseaux tout neufs ont grandi pendant douze mois,
Alors qu'il y a un an, ou moins de deux,
Ils n'étaient ni pinsons, ni rossignols,
   ni grives,
Mais seulement des particules de grain,
   de terre, d'air et de pluie.

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.
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Based on:

a text in English by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "Proud songsters"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2022-06-26
Line count: 12
Word count: 81