Tel cheval qui boit à la fontaine
Language: French (Français)
Tel cheval qui boit à la fontaine,
telle feuille qui en tombant nous touche,
telle main vide, ou telle bouche
qui nous voudrait parler et qui ose à peine -,
autant de variations de la vie qui s'apaise,
autant de rêves de la douleur qui somnole:
ô que celui dont le coeur est à l'aise,
cherche la créature et la console.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Gordon Ware Binkerd (1916 - 2003), "Tel cheval qui boit à la fontaine", 1972, published 1973 [ mezzo-soprano, violin and violoncello ], from Portrait intérieur, no. 4, New York : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mario Zafred (1922 - 1987), "Tel cheval qui boit à la fontaine", 1954, published 1954 [ female voice and piano ], from Vergers, no. 2, Milano : G. Ricordi & C. [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2023-09-26
Line count: 8
Word count: 61
The horse that drinks at the fountain
Language: English after the French (Français)
The horse that drinks at the fountain,
the leaf that touches us in falling,
the empty hand, or the mouth
that would speak to us but hardly dares—
so many variations of subsiding life,
so many dreams of slumbering pain:
O that he whose heart is at ease
would seek out the creation and console it.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Tel cheval qui boit à la fontaine" = "The horse that drinks at the fountain"
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:
This text was added to the website: 2025-08-11
Line count: 8
Word count: 56
