The Lion | O lion, unhappy emblem

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire

Translation © by Laura Prichard, Qi Feng Wu

Le Lion

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Ô lion, malheureuse image 
Des rois chus lamentablement, 
Tu ne nais maintenant qu'en cage 
À Hambourg, chez les Allemands.

First published in the revue La Phalange, no. 24, June 15, 1908 as number 6 of "La Marchande des quatre saisons ou le bestiaire mondain" (a collection of 18 poems), and later in Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d'Orphée (1911).

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Le Lion", appears in Le Bestiaire, ou Cortège d'Orphée, no. 7, first published 1908 [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 Claude Ballif (1924 - 2004), "Le Lion", op. 1b no. 7 (1945-48), published 1994 [ voice and piano ], from Le Cortège d’Orphée, no. 7, Édition Durand & Fils [sung text not yet checked]
by Alain Corbellari (b. 1967), "Le Lion", first performed 1992 [ bass-baritone and piano ], from Le bestiaire bis, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Cornman (1924 - 2008), "Le Lion", 1972 [ medium voice and piano ], from Le Bestiaire (bêta) ou cortège d'Orphée, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Durey (1888 - 1979), "Le Lion", op. 17a no. 7 (1919), from Le Bestiaire, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) (Qi Feng Wu) , "The Lion", copyright © 2023, (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: 4
Word count: 19

The Lion

Language: English after the French (Français)

O lion, unhappy emblem 
Of kings hunted lamentably, 
Now you're born in cages
at the Hamburg zoo, home to Germans.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Laura Prichard and Qi Feng Wu, (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 Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Le Lion", appears in Le Bestiaire, ou Cortège d'Orphée, no. 7, first published 1908
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-08-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 20