by
Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
Les coquillages
Language: French (Français)
Chaque coquillage incrusté
Dans la grotte où nous nous aimâmes
À sa particularité.
L'un a la pourpre de nos âmes
Dérobée au sang de nos cœurs
Quand je brûle et [quand]1 tu t'enflammes ;
Cet autre affecte tes langueurs
Et tes pâleurs alors que, lasse,
Tu m'en veux de mes yeux moqueurs ;
Celui-ci contrefait la grâce
De ton oreille, et celui-là
Ta nuque rose, courte et grasse ;
Mais un, entre autres, me troubla.
View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 17-18.
Note: All ampersands (&) as appear in the first publication are changed to "et".
1 some editions: "que"
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 Gérard Condé (b. 1947), "Les coquillages", 1973, published 2001 [ reciter and piano ], from Fêtes galantes, récitation accompagnée au piano, no. 6, Éd. Henry Lemoine [sung text not yet checked]
- by Antonio Lima Fragoso (1897 - 1918), "Les coquillages", 1917, published 1972 [ voice and piano ], from Cançoes do sol poente - Poèmes Saturniens, no. 4, Lisbonne, Éd. Valentim de Carvalho [sung text not yet checked]
- by Werner (Erich) Josten (1885 - 1963), "Les coquillages", published 1931 [ voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies de Paul Verlaine, no. 3, Paris, Sénart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Pierre-Yvan Jouffroy , "Les coquillages", [1949] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fernand Ochsé (1879 - 1944), "Les coquillages", 1908, published 1913 [ voice and piano ], from Le Parc, no. 7, Berlin, Fürstner [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jósef-Zygmunt Szulc (1875 - 1956), "Les coquillages", op. 83 (Dix mélodies sur des poésies de Verlaine) no. 7, published 1907 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Rouart Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Škeble"
- ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , "The seashells", copyright © 2020, (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: 2008-09-12
Line count: 13
Word count: 73
The seashells
Language: English after the French (Français)
Each encrusted seashell
In the cave where we loved one another
Has its defining characteristic,
One, the purple of our souls
Stolen from the blood of our hearts
When I burn and so that you ignite;
This other one affects your languor
And your pallor so that, weary,
You became annoyed by my mocking eyes;
This one mimics the grace
Of your ear, and that one
Your pink neck, short and full;
But one among the others troubled me.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2020 by Garrett Medlock, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Les coquillages", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 9, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869
This text was added to the website: 2020-04-28
Line count: 13
Word count: 79
