by Louis Pomey (1835 - 1901)
Translation © by Barbara Miller

Coquette
Language: French (Français) 
Available translation(s): ENG FIN
De n'aimer que toi,
Je donne ma foi,
Tra la la
O fille Gentille, Gentille
Mais ma fidèle ardeur;
Tra la la
O fille Gentille,
Ne peut toucher ton coeur.

Si dans tes regards j'ai su lire,
Tu plains malgré toi mon martyre,
Mais d'amour que je meure,
C'est un deuil d'un jour ou d'une heure.
Ah--Je ne veux que toi,
Tu cherches pourquoi,
Tra la la Filette, Coquette, Coquette,
Eh bien! dis-moi comment, la la la
Fillette, Coquette, Comment faire autrement.

Quand l'amour s'en vient nous surprendre,
On veut d'abord lui résister,
Mais sa voix devient si tendre,
Qu'un jour il faut l'écouter
Ah! Donc, si tu m'en crois
Accepte ma foi la la la
O belle Cruelle, Cruelle,
Et laisse-toi charmer, la la la
O belle Cruelle
Par qui saura t'aimer.

Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (Barbara Miller) , title 1: "Flirtatious one", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , title 1: "Keimailija", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Barbara Miller

This text was added to the website: 2004-04-21
Line count: 27
Word count: 133

Flirtatious one
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
To only love you,
I give my pledge,
Tra la la, 
O sweet, sweet girl
But my faithful ardor; 
Tra la la
O kind girl, 
cannot touch your heart.

If I have learned to read your looks,
You mourn in spite of yourself my martyrdom,
But of the love of which I die,
It's a grief of a day or of an hour.
Ah, I only want you, 
you seek to know why,
Tra la la little girl, flirt, flirt
Oh well, tell me how, la la la
Little girl, flirtatious one, how to do otherwise.

When love comes along to surprise us,
One wants at first to resist it,
But its voice becomes so tender,
That one day one has to listen
Ah! Therefore, if you believe me,
Take my word, la la la
O beautiful cruel girl, cruel girl,
And let yourself be charmed, la la la
O beautiful cruel girl,
By him who will know how to love you.

Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2004 by Barbara Miller, (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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This text was added to the website: 2004-04-21
Line count: 27
Word count: 162