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À Strasbourg en dix-neuf-cent-quatre J'arrivai pour le lundi gras À l'hôtel m'assis devant l'âtre Près d'un chanteur de l'Opéra Qui ne parlait que de théâtre La Kellnerine rousse avait Mis sur sa tête un chapeau rose Comme Hébé qui les dieux servait N'en eut jamais. Ô belles choses Carnaval chapeau rose Ave! À Rome à Nice et à Cologne Dans les fleurs et les confetti Carnaval j'ai revu ta trogne, Ô roi plus riche et plus gentil Que Crésus Rothschild et Torlogne Je soupai d'un peu de foie gras De chevreuil tendre à la compôte De tartes flans et cetera Un peu de kirsch me ravigote Que ne t'avais-je entre mes bras.
Text Authorship:
- by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "1904", written 1914, appears in Il y a, Paris, Éd. Messein, first published 1925 [author's text not yet checked 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 Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "1904", FP 58 no. 4 (1931) [ medium voice and piano ], from Quatre Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "1904", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "1904", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Laura Stanfield Prichard) , "1904", copyright © 2016, (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: 20
Word count: 112
In 1904, I went to Strasbourg for the Monday before Lent. In the hotel, I sat by the fireside near an opera singer who only talked about the theatre. The red-headed Kellnerine was wearing a pink hat such as Hebe, servant to the gods, never had. Oh, things of beauty - Carnival, pink hat, Ave! In Rome, in Nice and in Cologne, among the flowers and confetti, Carnival, I've seen your ugly face. Oh, richer, kinder king than Croesus, Rothschild and Torlogne. I ate a bit of foie gras for supper, with tender venison, pies, flans, etc. A little kirsch warmed me up. Why weren't you in my arms?
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Faith J. Cormier, (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.
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "1904", written 1914, appears in Il y a, Paris, Éd. Messein, first published 1925
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 108