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by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
Translation by Johannes Schlaf (1862 - 1941)

À la promenade
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ITA
Le ciel si pâle et les arbres si grêles
Semblent sourire à nos costumes clairs
Qui vont flottant [légers]1, avec des airs
De nonchalance et des mouvements d'ailes.

Et le vent doux ride l'humble bassin,
Et la lueur du soleil qu'atténue
L'ombre des bas tilleuls de l'avenue,
Nous parvient bleue et mourante à dessein.

Trompeurs exquis et coquettes charmantes,
Cœurs tendres, mais affranchis du serment,
Nous devisons délicieusement,
Et les amants lutinent les amantes,

De qui la main imperceptible sait
Parfois donner un soufflet, qu'on échange
Contre un baiser sur l'extrême phalange
Du petit doigt, et comme la chose est 

Immensément excessive et farouche,
On est puni par un regard très sec,
Lequel contraste, au demeurant, avec
La moue assez clémente de la bouche.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   K. Sorabji 

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 9-10.

Notes: All ampersands (&) as appear in the first publication are changed to "et". "très-sec" as appears in the first publication is changed to "très sec".

1 omitted by K. Sorabji

Text Authorship:

  • by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "À la promenade", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 5, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Gérard Condé (b. 1947), "À la promenade", 1973, published 2001 [ reciter and piano ], from Fêtes galantes, récitation accompagnée au piano, no. 4, Éd. Henry Lemoine [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Fernand Ochsé (1879 - 1944), "À la promenade ", 1908, published 1913 [ voice and piano ], from Le Parc, no. 3, Berlin, Fürstner [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892 - 1988), "À la promenade", KSS 37 no. 2 (1924), published 1924 [ voice and piano ], from Trois fêtes galantes de Verlaine, no. 2, London, Curwen [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Johannes Schlaf (1862 - 1941) , "Auf der Promenade" ; composed by Artur Immisch.
    • Go to the text.

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

  • ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , "Strolling", written 2002, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , "À la promenade", written c2005, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "La passeggiata", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 126

Auf der Promenade
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the French (Français) 
Der blasse Himmel und die schlanken Äste
überschimmern mit ihrem zarten Schein
das buntfröhliche Durcheinander unsrer Reih'n,
und unsre helle Kleidung knittert und flattert im Weste.

Ein leiser Lufthauch kräuselt den glatten
Spiegel des blanken Weihers, und das Sonnenlicht
dringt durch die gestutzten Lindenreihen und bricht
und kürzt der niedren Stämme blaue Schatten.

Zärtlicher Sinn und leicht entbrannte Herzen,
flüstern einen bald gebrochnen Schwur,
so plaudern und kokettieren wir die Schnur
der langen Allee hin unter verliebten Scherzen.

Ab und zu, von einem der zarten Händchen,
wird auch wohl ein gelinder Klaps appliziert,
den man nachher reuesamst quittiert
mit einem ergebensten Kuß auf das äußerste Endchen

des kleinen Fingers. Ging man etwas weiter,
und war etwa zu stürmisch das Delikt,
die Gnädige wohl etwas befremdet und kälter blickt,
aber um den schönen Mund bleibt's heiter.

Confirmed with Gedichte von Paul Verlaine. Eine Anthologie der besten Übertragungen, herausgegeben von Stefan Zweig, Berlin and Leipzig : Schuster & Loeffler, 1902, page 45.


Text Authorship:

  • by Johannes Schlaf (1862 - 1941), "Auf der Promenade" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in French (Français) by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "À la promenade", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 5, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869
    • Go to the text page.

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

  • by Artur Immisch (1902 - 1949), "Auf der Promenade" [ high voice and piano ], from Lieder nach Texten von Paul Verlaine, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Bertram Kottmann , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2021-03-27
Line count: 20
Word count: 135

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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