by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
Un singe en veste de brocart
Language: French (Français)
Un singe en veste de brocart Trotte et gambade devant elle Qui froisse un mouchoir de dentelle Dans sa main gantée avec art, Tandis qu'un négrillon tout rouge Maintient à tour de bras les pans De sa lourde robe en suspens, Attentif à tout pli qui bouge ; Le singe ne perd pas des yeux La gorge blanche de la dame, Opulent trésor que réclame Le torse nu de l'un des dieux ; Le négrillon parfois soulève Plus haut qu'il ne faut, l'aigrefin, Son fardeau somptueux, afin De voir ce dont la nuit il rêve ; Elle va par les escaliers, Et ne paraît pas davantage Sensible à l'insolent suffrage De ses animaux familiers.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 15.
Notes: In the first publication, the spelling variant "Cortége" is used as the title. This spelling became less common the the 1870s, and "Cortège" is the title used in most subsequent publications. All ampersands (&) as appear in the first publication are changed to "et".
Text Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), title 1: "Cortège", title 2: "Cortége", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 8, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Karl Heinrich David (1884 - 1951), "Gavotte", op. 79 no. 3, published 1942-1944 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Quatre chants, d'après des poésies de Paul Verlaine, no. 3, Zurich et Leipzig: Hug Frères & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Fernand Ochsé (1879 - 1944), "Cortège", 1908 [ voice and piano ], from Le Parc, no. 6, first published in Le Figaro, Supp. Litt., 23 March 1908 ; later published Berlin, Fürstner, 1913 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Willem Pijper (1894 - 1947), "Cortège", 1916, published 1947 [ mezzo-soprano and orchestra or piano ], from Fêtes galantes, no. 3, Amsterdam, Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Irena Regina Poldowski (1880 - 1932), "Cortège", 1912, published 1913 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Rœder [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Franz Evers (1871 - 1947) , "Aufzug" ; composed by Willy Czernik.
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 112