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Elle avait de beaux cheveux, blonds Comme une moisson d'août, si longs Qu'ils lui tombaient jusqu'aux talons. Elle avait une voix étrange, Musicale, de fée ou d'ange, Des yeux verts sous leur noire frange. Lui, ne craignait pas de rival, Quand il traversait mont ou val, En l'emportant sur son cheval. Car, pour tous ceux de la contrée, Altière elle s'était montrée, Jusqu'au jour où il l'eut rencontrée. L'amour la prit si fort au cœur, Que pour un sourire moqueur, Il lui vint un mal de langueur. Et dans ses dernières caresses: Fais un archet avec mes tresses, Pour charmer tes autres maîtresses. Puis, dans un long baiser nerveux, Elle mourut. Suivant ses vœux, Il fit l'archet de ses cheveux. Comme un aveugle qui marmonne, Sur un violon de Crémone Il jouait, demandant l'aumône. Tous avaient d'enivrants frissons A l'écouter. Car dans ses sons Vivaient la morte et ses chansons. Le roi, charmé, fit sa fortune. Lui, sut plaire à la reine brune Et l'enlever au clair de lune. Mais chaque fois qu'il y touchait Pour plaire à la reine, l'archet Tristement le lui reprochait. Au son du funèbre langage, Ils moururent à mi-voyage. Et la morte reprit son gage. Elle reprit ses cheveux blonds Comme une moisson d'août, si longs Qu'ils lui tombaient jusqu'aux talons.
C. Debussy sets stanzas 1-7
First published in the revue La Parodie (September, 1869), with music by Ernest Cabaner.
Authorship:
- by Charles Cros (1842 - 1888), "L'archet", appears in Le Coffret de Santal, in Chansons perpétuelles, no. 11, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre [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 Isabelle Aboulker (b. 1938), "L'Archet", published 2009 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henri-Paul Büsser (1872 - 1973), "L'archet", op. 5 no. 1 (1891) [ high voice and piano ], from Chansons perpétuelles de Charles Cros, no. 1, Éd. Henry Lemoine [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Cabaner (1833 - 1881), "L'archet", published 1869 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "L'Archet", L. 22/(46) (1881), stanzas 1-7 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles-Alain Dechampcourt-Félix (flourished 1892-1909), as Charles Henry, "L'Archet", op. 94, published [1909] [ medium voice, violin, and piano ], Éd. Rouart-Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gabriel-André Fabre (1858 - 1921), "L'Archet", subtitle: "Scène" [ high voice, piano, cello ], Éd. Henry Lemoine & Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882 - 1973), "L'archet", 1916, published 1918 [ high voice and piano ], from Cinq mélodies, no. 5, Paris, Éditions Salabert (Maurice Sénart) [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The Violin Bow", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-04-28
Line count: 39
Word count: 216
She had beautiful hair, as blond as a harvest in August, and so long that it hung right down to her heels. She had a strange and musical voice - a fairy's or an angel's - and green eyes under their dark fringe. As for him, he feared no rival as he rode across hills or valleys, carrying her on his horse. For in everyone's view in that region she had appeared haughty until the day he had met her. Love gripped her heart so strongly that a single mocking smile provoked in her a painful languor. And she said, in his final caresses: "Make a bow of my tresses to charm your other mistresses." Then in a long nervous kiss, she died. As he had vowed he made the bow from her hair. Like a blind man who fiddles on a Cremona violin, he would play, busking for coins. Everyone listening to him felt intoxicating shivers. For in his sounds the dead woman and her songs lived again. The king, charmed, gave the man a fortune. He touched the heart of the dark-haired queen and abducted her by moonlight. But every time he played the violin to please the queen, the bow would sadly reproach him. To the sound of that funereal language they died without finishing their trip. And the dead one reclaimed her pledge, she took it back, her hair as blond as a harvest in August, and so long that it hung right down to her heels.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 by Peter Low, (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 Charles Cros (1842 - 1888), "L'archet", appears in Le Coffret de Santal, in Chansons perpétuelles, no. 11, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre
This text was added to the website: 2022-08-24
Line count: 39
Word count: 251