Cantant les criades s'abalancen | Cantant les criades s'abalancen

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by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard

Translation © by Salvador Pila

En chantant les servantes s’élancent

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT ENG

En chantant les servantes s’élancent
Pour rafraîchir la place où l’on tuait
Petites filles en poudres vite agenouillées
Leurs mains aux soupiraux de la fraîcheur
Sont bleues comme une expérience
Un grand matin joyeux
Faites face à leurs mains les morts
Faites face à leurs yeux liquides
C’est la toilette des éphémères
La dernière toilette de la vie
Les pierres descendent disparaissent
Dans l’eau vaste essentielle
La dernière toilette des heures
A peine un souvenir ému
Aux puits taris de la vertu
Aux longues absences encombrantes
Et l’on s’abandonne à la chair très tendre
Aux prestiges de la faiblesse.

Text Authorship:

by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard [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 Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "En chantant les servantes s’élancent", FP 120 no. 2 (1943), first performed 1946 [ chorus ], from cantata Figure humaine, no. 2, Éditions Salabert [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Cantant les criades s'abalancen", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The maidservants rush off singing", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2021-01-22
Line count: 18
Word count: 99

Cantant les criades s'abalancen

Language: Catalan (Català) after the French (Français)

Cantant les criades s'abalancen
a refrescar la plaça on es matava
nenes amb coloret de seguida agenollades
les seves mans als respiralls de la frescor
són blaves com una experiència
una gran joiosa matinada
mireu les seves mans els morts
mireu els seus ulls líquids
és la toaleta dels efímers
l'ablució final de la vida
les pedres davallen desapareixen
en l'aigua vasta essencial
l'ablució final de les hores
a penes un record commòs
als pous secs de la virtut
a les llargues absències que fan nosa
i ens rendim a la carn ben tendra
a les seduccions de la feblesa.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2026 by Salvador Pila, (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 Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-05-02
Line count: 18
Word count: 100