by
Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
At the railway station, Upway
Language: English
"There is not much that I can do,
For I've no money that's quite my own!"
Spoke up the pitying child -
A little boy with a violin
At the station before the train came in, -
"But I can play my fiddle to you,
And a nice one 'tis, and good in tone!"
The man in the handcuffs smiled;
The constable looked, and he smiled, too,
As the fiddle began to twang;
And the man in the handcuffs suddenly sang
With grimful glee:
"This life so free
Is the thing for me!"
And the constable smiled, and said no word,
As if unconscious of what he heard;
And so they went on till the train came in -
The convict, and boy with the violin.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Christopher Park) , "À la gare d’Upway", 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: 18
Word count: 123
À la gare d’Upway
Language: French (Français) after the English
« Il n'y a pas grand-chose que je puisse faire,
car je n'ai pas un sou vaillant ! »
Disait l'enfant plein de pitié -
Un petit garçon avec un violon
À la gare avant l'arrivée du train, -
« Mais je peux te jouer de mon violon,
Et c’en est un beau, bien accordé ! »
L'homme aux menottes a souri ;
Le policier a regardé, et il a souri, aussi,
Le violon a commencé à résonner ;
Et l'homme aux menottes a soudainement chanté
Avec une joie sinistre :
« Cette vie si libre
Est faite pour moi ! »
Et le policier a souri, et n'a pas dit un mot,
Comme s'il était inconscient de ce qu'il avait entendu ;
Et ils continuèrent ainsi jusqu'à l'arrivée du train -
Le condamné, et le garçon avec le violon.
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:
This text was added to the website: 2022-06-26
Line count: 18
Word count: 130
