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Nez au vent, cœur plein d'aise, Berthe emplit, fraise à fraise, Dans le bois printanier Son frais panier. Les déesses de marbre La regardent sous l'arbre D'un air plein de douceur, Comme une soeur, Et dans de folles rixes Passe l'essaim des Nixes Et des Elfes badins Et des Ondins. Un Elfe dit à Berthe: "Là-bas, sous l'ombre verte, Il est dans les sentiers De beaux fraisiers." Un Elfe à la moustache Très fine et l'air bravache D'un reître ou d'un varlet Quand il lui plaît... "Conduisez-moi," dit Berthe, "Là-bas... sous l'ombre verte, Où sont dans les sentiers Les beaux fraisiers!" Leste comme une chèvre, Berthe courait: "Ta lèvre Est un fraisier charmant," Reprit l'amant. "Le baiser, fraise rose, Donne à la bouche éclose Qui le laisse saisir, Un doux plaisir!" "S'il est ainsi," dit Berthe, "Laissons sous l'ombre verte En paix, dans les sentiers, Les beaux fraisiers!"
Authorship
- by Catulle Mendès (1841 - 1909), "Lied", written 1863, appears in Philoméla, Éd. Hetzel, first published 1863 [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 Emmanuel Chabrier (1841 - 1894), "Lied", 1886? [medium voice and piano] [text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Marvin J. Ward) , title 1: "Song", copyright © 2007, (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: 36
Word count: 148
Nose to the wind, light-hearted Bertha fills, strawberry by strawberry, In the springtime woods Her new basket. The marble goddesses Watch her under the tree With a sweet gaze, Like a sister. And in wild scuffles The swarm of Nixies And playful Elves And Undines passes. An Elf says to Bertha: "Over there, in the green shade, There are, in the paths, Beautiful strawberry plants." An Elf with a thin mustache And the blustering mien Of a thug or a page When it pleases him... "Take me," says Bertha, "Over there... into the green shade, Where they are, in the paths, The beautiful strawberry plants!" As nimbly as a goat Bertha ran: "Your lip Is a charming strawberry plant," The lover continues. "The kiss, pink strawberry, Gives to the opened mouth That lets one seize it, A sweet pleasure!" "If this is so," says Bertha, Let us leave, in the green shade, At peace, in the paths, The beautiful strawberry plants!"
Authorship
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2007 by Marvin J. Ward, (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:
- a text in French (Français) by Catulle Mendès (1841 - 1909), "Lied", written 1863, appears in Philoméla, Éd. Hetzel, first published 1863
This text was added to the website: 2007-11-08
Line count: 36
Word count: 161