Christmas of the Toys | The varnished flock of sheep

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by Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Noël des jouets

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG ENG SPA

Le troupeau verni des moutons
Roule en tumulte vers la crêche
Les lapins tambours, brefs et rêches,
Couvrent leurs aigres mirlitons.
Vierge Marie, en crinoline.
Ses yeux d'émail sans cesse ouverts,
En attendant Bonhomme hiver
Veille Jésus qui se dodine
Car, près de là, sous un sapin,
Furtif, emmitoufflé dans l'ombre
Du bois, Belzébuth, le chien sombre,
Guette l'Enfant de sucre peint.
Mais les beaux anges incassables
Suspendus par des fils d'archal
Du haut de l'arbuste hiémal
Assurent la paix des étables.
Et leur vol de clinquant vermeil
Qui cliquette en bruits symétriques
S'accorde au bétail mécanique
Dont la voix grêle bêle:
"Noêl! Noêl! Noêl!"

Text Authorship:

by Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937) [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 Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937), "Noël des jouets", M. 47 (1905), published 1914 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Noël of the toys", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Christmas of the Toys", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Victor Torres) , "Navidad de los juguetes", copyright © 2010, (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: 21
Word count: 105

Christmas of the Toys

Language: English after the French (Français)

The varnished flock of sheep
Rolls riotously towards the manger
The rabbits' drumming, crisp and harsh,
Covers the shrillness of their pipes.
The Virgin Mary, in crinoline,
Her enamel eyes forever open,
Awaiting Old Man Winter,
Watches over Jesus as he rocks himself
For, nearby, under a fir tree,
Furtive, enwrapped in the shadow
Of the wood, Beelzebub, the dark hound,
Lies in wait for the Child of painted sugar.
But the beautiful unbreakable angels
Hung on wires of brass
From the top of the winter shrubbery
Safeguard the peace of the stables.
And their flight of bright red tinsel
Rattling with symmetrical sounds
Blends with the mechanical livestock
Who bleat in a reedy voice:
"Noël! Noël! Noël!"

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:

a text in French (Français) by Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-12-31
Line count: 21
Word count: 118