La Tortue
Language: French (Français)
Our translations: ENG ENG
Du Thrace magique, ô délire!
Mes doigts sûrs font sonner la lyre.
Les animaux passent aux sons
De ma tortue, de mes chansons.
First published in the revue La Phalange, no. 24, June 15, 1908, in La Marchande des quatre saisons ou le bestiaire mondain, no. 2 of 18.
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):
- by Claude Ballif (1924 - 2004), "La Tortue", op. 1b no. 2 (1945-48), published 1994 [ voice and piano ], from Le Cortège d’Orphée, no. 2, Édition Durand & Fils [sung text not yet checked]
- by May Breguet (1916 - 2006), "La Tortue", 1992?, published 1992? [ high voice and piano ], from Bestiaire, no. 2, Bern (Switzerland), Éd. Verlag Müller & Schade AG [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Caby (1905 - 1992), "La Tortue", 1948 [ medium voice and piano ], from Bestiaire, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Régis Campo (b. 1968), "La Tortue", 2007-08 [ soprano and orchestra or piano ], from Le Bestiaire, no. 1, Éd. Henry Lemoine (piano reduction) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alain Corbellari (b. 1967), "La Tortue", first performed 1992 [ bass-baritone and piano ], from Le bestiaire bis, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Cornman (1924 - 2008), "La Tortue", 1972 [ medium voice and piano ], from Le Bestiaire (bêta) ou cortège d'Orphée, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Durey (1888 - 1979), "La Tortue", op. 17a no. 2 (1919), from Le Bestiaire, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The Turtle", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Ted Perry , Peter Low
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 4
Word count: 23
The Tortoise
Language: English after the French (Français)
Magical Thrace, oh delirium!
My steady fingers make the lyre speak.
The animals pass to the sounds
Of my tortoise, of my songs.
Translator's note for line 4: The resonating chambers of some ancient Greek stringed instruments were made from tortoise shells. The chelys or chelus (Greek: χέλυς, Latin: testudo, both meaning "turtle" or "tortoise”) was a common stringed lyre incorporating the convex shell of the tortoise or a reproduction of a shell shape in wood. Hermes is described as inventing the chelys, which was used to accompany the voice.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Laura Stanfield Prichard, (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: 2026-05-06
Line count: 4
Word count: 23
