Bid adieu, adieu, adieu,
Bid adieu to girlish days,
Happy love is come to woo
Thee and woo thy girlish ways -
The zone that doth become thee fair,
The snood upon thy yellow hair.
When thou hast heard his name upon
The bugles of the cherubim
Begin thou softly to unzone
Thy girlish bosom unto him
And softly to undo the snood
That is the sign of maidenhood.
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 David Arditti (b. 1964), no title, op. 20 no. 8 (1998) [ tenor and string quartet ], from Chamber Music, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Israel Citkowitz (1909 - 1974), "Bid adieu", published 1930 [ voice and piano ], from Five Songs from "Chamber Music", no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Leo Diamond (1915 - 2005), "Bid adieu, adieu, adieu", published 1938 [ four-part chorus a cappella ], from Three Madrigals, madrigal [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ross Lee Finney (1906 - 1997), "Bid adieu, adieu, adieu ", 1952, published 1985, first performed 1975 [ voice and piano ], from Chamber Music, no. 11, Henmar Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edmund Pendleton (1899 - 1987), "Bid adieu", published 1949 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Barry Seaman (b. 1946), "Bid adieu", 1981 [ voice and piano ], from Chamber Music Book I, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rick Sowash (b. 1950), "Bid adieu", 1973 [ STB chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (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: 12
Word count: 68
Dis adieu, adieu, adieu,
Dis adieu aux jours de jeune fille,
L'amour heureux vient pour faire la cour
À toi et à tes manières de jeune fille --
La ceinture qui te fait si belle,
La résille sur tes cheveux blonds.
Quand tu auras entendu son nom
Aux clairons du chérubin,
Commence doucement à défaire
Ton sein de jeune fille pour lui
Et doucement à défaire la résille
Qui est le signe de ta virginité.