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Il pleut, il pleut, bergère, Tout là-haut, tout là-bas. La pluie est si légère Que l’on ne l’entend pas. Il pleut ! Cela traverse Tout le ciel et s’enfuit. Il pleut ! C’est une averse D’étoiles dans la nuit. Il pleut ! Il pleut ! Peut-être Au firmament qui dort Un soleil vient de naître Comme un papillon d’or. Il pleut ! Ces étincelles Pour nous font flamboyer La poudre de ses ailes Qu’il vient de déployer. Il pleut, il pleut, mon ange ! Courons là-bas ! Je veux De cette poudre étrange Poudrer tes blonds cheveux.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Les caresses, Nouvelle Édition, Paris, G. Charpentier, [no date], pages 36-37.
Text Authorship:
- by Jean Richepin (1849 - 1926), "Étoiles filantes", written 1877, appears in Les Caresses, in 1. Floréal, no. 17, Paris, Éd. M. Dreyfous, first published 1882 [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 Jacques Bousquet (1883 - 1939), "Étoiles filantes" [ medium voice and piano ], Éditions "Répertoire Parisien" [sung text not yet checked]
- by René Chansarel (1864 - 1945), "Étoiles filantes", published 1903 [ medium voice and piano ], in the musical journal L'Illustration [sung text not yet checked]
- by Auguste Chapuis (1858 - 1933), "Pluie d'étoiles", 1888, published c1889 [ high voice and piano ], from Les caresses, no. 5, Paris, Léon Grus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eva Dell'Acqua (1856 - 1930), "Les Étoiles filantes", published 1904 [ voice and piano ], In: The Winifred B. Scott (W.B.S) collection of published songs for piano, vocal and violin, from the 1900's; Enoch & Sons [sung text checked 1 time]
- by M. Grodvolle , "Étoiles filantes " [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
- by Raoul Koczalski (1884 - 1948), "Etoiles Filantes", op. 77 (6 Mélodies) no. 2, copyright © 1915 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Anyi Sharma) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2015-03-28
Line count: 20
Word count: 90
It is raining, it is raining, shepherd Way up there, way out there. The rain is so light That you can't hear it. It is raining! It crosses The whole sky and flees. It is raining! It is a shower Of stars in the night. It is raining! It is raining! Maybe In the sleeping firmament A sun was just born Like a golden butterfly. It is raining! These sparks For us set ablaze The dust from its wings, That it just opened. It is raining, it is raining, my angel! Let’s run over there! I want Some of this strange dust To powder your blonde hair.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translator's notes:
Stanza 1, line 1: the grammatical gender of the French word 'bergère' is feminine.
Stanza 4, line 3, word 2: “If you brush against the wings of a butterfly, you will likely come away with a fine sprinkling of powder,’ according to Jennifer Chu (MIT News, 2021). “This lepidopteran dust is made up of tiny microscopic scales, hundreds of thousands of which paper a butterfly’s wings like shingles on a wafer-thin roof. The structure and arrangement of these scales give a butterfly its color and shimmer, and help shield the insect from the elements.”
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2024 by Anyi Sharma, (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 Jean Richepin (1849 - 1926), "Étoiles filantes", written 1877, appears in Les Caresses, in 1. Floréal, no. 17, Paris, Éd. M. Dreyfous, first published 1882
This text was added to the website: 2024-02-02
Line count: 20
Word count: 107