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Tant de tristesses plénières Prirent mon cœur aux fagnes désolées Quand las j'ai reposé dans les sapinières Le poids des kilomètres pendant que râlait le vent d'ouest. J'avais quitté le joli bois Les écureuils y sont restés Ma pipe essayait de faire des nuages Au ciel Qui restait pur obstinément. Je n'ai confié aucun secret sinon une chanson énigmatique Aux tourbières humides Les bruyères fleurant le miel Attiraient les abeilles Et mes pieds endoloris Foulaient les myrtilles et les airelles Tendrement mariée Nord Nord La vie s'y tord En arbres forts Et tors. La vie y mord La mort À belles dents Quand bruit le vent
Text Authorship:
- by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Fagnes de Wallonie", written 1915, 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), "Fagnes de Wallonie", FP 107 no. 3 (1940), published 1941 [ medium voice and piano ], from Banalités, no. 3, Éd. Max Eschig [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Aiguamolls de Valònia", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Walloon moorlands", copyright © 2001, (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: 26
Word count: 106
So much deep sadness seized my heart on the desolate moors when I sat down weary among the firs, unloading the weight of the kilometres while the west wind growled. I had left the pretty woods. The squirrels stayed there. My pipe tried to make clouds of smoke in the sky which stubbornly stayed blue. I murmured no secret except an enigmatic song which I confided to the peat bog. Smelling of honey, the heather was attracting the bees, and my aching feet trod bilberries and whortleberries. Tenderly she is married North! North! There life twists in trees that are strong and gnarled. There life bites bitter death with greedy teeth, when the wind howls.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2001 by Peter Low, (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, "Fagnes de Wallonie", written 1915, 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: 26
Word count: 120