The Water Nymph | The bitter north wind that sighs

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by Louis-Alexandre Fortoul (1870 - 1948), as Ludovic Fortolis

Translation © by Grant Hicks

L'Ondine

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

L'aigre bise qui soupire
Dans la harpe des roseaux 
A surpris l'éclat de rire 
d'une ondine au fond des eaux ! 

La Bise ayant de colère,
Brisé les roseaux jaseurs 
Vit bientôt l'ondine en faire 
Une flůte aux sons moqueurs !

Text Authorship:

by Louis-Alexandre Fortoul (1870 - 1948), as Ludovic Fortolis [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 Hedwige Chrétien (1859 - 1944), "L'Ondine" [ medium voice and piano ], from Petits Poèmes du Bord de l'Eau, no. 5, Éd. Rouart-Lerolle [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Water Nymph", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2025-06-19
Line count: 8
Word count: 39

The Water Nymph

Language: English after the French (Français)

The bitter north wind that sighs
In the harp of the reeds
Overheard the burst of laughter 
Of a water nymph in the depths.

The north wind, having out of anger
Broken the chattering reeds,
Soon saw the water nymph make of them
A flute with mocking tones!

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Louis-Alexandre Fortoul (1870 - 1948), as Ludovic Fortolis
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-08-21
Line count: 8
Word count: 48