Quand viendra la saison nouvelle,
Quand auront disparu les froids,
Tous les deux, nous irons, ma belle,
Pour cueillir le muguet au bois;
Sous nos pieds égrénant les perles
Que l'on voit, au matin trembler,
Nous irons écouter les merles 
     Siffler.

Le printemps est venu, ma belle;
C'est le mois des amants béni;
Et l'oiseau, satinant son aile,
Dit [des]1 vers au rebord du nid.
[Oh !]2 viens donc sur [le]3 banc de mousse
Pour parler de nos beaux amours,
Et dis-moi de ta voix si douce: 
    «Toujours !»

Loin, bien loin égarant nos courses,
Faisons fuir le lapin caché,
Et le daim au miroir des sources
Admirant son grand bois penché ;
Puis chez nous tout [joyeux]4, tout aises,
En paniers, enlaçant nos doigts,
Revenons rapportant des fraises
    Des bois.

J. Radoux sets stanzas 1-3
P. Viardot sets stanzas 1-2
E. Lacheurié sets stanzas 1-2

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Théophile Gauthier, La comédie de la mort, Desessart editeur, Paris, 1838, page 361.

¹ Berlioz: "ses"
² Viardot: "Ah ! "
³ Berlioz, Lavigne, Viardot: "ce"
⁴ Berlioz, Lavigne: "heureux"

Authorship:

• by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier (1811 - 1872), "Villanelle rythmique", appears in La Comédie de la Mort, first published 1838 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Joseph Archainbaud (1866 - 1941), "Villanelle", published 1894 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, L. Bathlot-Joubert [sung text not yet checked]
• by Casimir Baille , "Villanelle", 1911 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by J. Baudot , "Villanelle" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis (Ludwig) Benedictus (1850 - 1921), "Villanelle", published [1889] [ high voice and piano ], Paris, G. Hartmann [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869), "Villanelle", op. 7 no. 1 (1840) [ voice and piano or orchestra ], from Les Nuits d'Été, no. 1, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Julie Bernard , "Villanelle", op. 25, published 1869 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Paris, Choudens [sung text not yet checked]
• by Honoré Bizalion , "Villanelle", published [1874] [ high voice and piano ], Lyon, Adrien Rey [sung text not yet checked]
• by Xavier Boisselot (1811 - 1893), "Villanella", 1837?, published [1837] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Maurice Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles-Samuel Bovy-Lysberg (1821 - 1873), "Chanson de mai", subtitle: "Villanelle", published 1850-6 [ voice and piano ], Paris, J. Meissonnier Fils [sung text not yet checked]
• by Georges Brun (d. 1961), "Villanelle", published [1904] [ high voice and piano ], Paris, A. Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
• by J.-F. Édouard van Buggenhout (1818 - 1877), "Villanelle", published 1865 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Schott [sung text not yet checked]
• by Allyre Bureau (1810 - 1859), "La saison nouvelle - Villanelle", published 1852 [ voice and English horn or cello ], from Trois mélodies, no. 2, Paris, Alex. Brullé [sung text not yet checked]
• by Marc Burty (d. 1903), "Quand viendra la saison nouvelle - Villanelle", published 1874 [ voice and piano ], Lyon, Adrien Rey [sung text not yet checked]
• by Anatol Canivet , "La saison nouvelle - Villanelle", 1867, published 1870 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Georges Charton (1862 - 1929), "Villanelle rythmique", published 1896 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Ed. Léon Grus [sung text not yet checked]
• by Auguste Charles Cœdès (1835 - 1884), "Villanelle rythmique", op. 12, published 1897 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Gambogi [sung text not yet checked]
• by Georges Costa , "Villanelle", published 1882 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Enoch [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jules Laurent Anacharsis Duprato (1827 - 1892), "Villanelle", published 1878 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Au Ménestrel, Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Émile Durand (1830 - 1903), "La saison nouvelle", subtitle: "Villanelle", published 1879 [ high voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies, no. 2, Paris, Théodore Michaelis [sung text not yet checked]
• by Lucien Durand , "Villanelle rythmique", published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Colombier [sung text not yet checked]
• by Georges Auguste Fragerolle (1855 - 1920), "Saison nouvelle" [ voice and piano ], Paris, J.-B. katto [sung text not yet checked]
• by Édouard Garnier (1821 - 1887), "Villanelle rythmique", published 1854 [ vocal duet with piano ], from Larmes et Sourires - 24 Morceaux de chant, no. 20, Paris, J. Benacci-Peschier [sung text not yet checked]
• by Eugène Gautier (1822 - 1878), "Villanelle", published 1869 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by André Gédalge (1856 - 1926), "Villanelle", 1878, unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Gouin , "Villanelle" [ voice and piano ], Paris, Brandus [sung text not yet checked]
• by Fernand-Gustave Halphen (1872 - 1917), "Villanelle rythmique", 1902, published 1906 [ high voice and piano ], from Dix mélodies, deuxième recueil, no. 2, Éd. Société Musicale G. Astruc [sung text not yet checked]
• by Guy de Kervéguen, Vicomte (1857 - 1896), "Villanelle", published 1879 [ vocal duet for soprano and tenor with piano? ], from Trois duos, no. 1, Paris, J. Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
• by Eugène Lacheurié (b. 1831), "Villanelle", published 1897, stanzas 1-2 [ vocal duet for 2 sopranos and piano ], in the supplement to Annales politiques et littéraires [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis (Trouillon) Lacombe (1818 - 1884), "Villanelle", published 1863 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Ed. F. Bachmann, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Lefebvre (1843 - 1917), "Villanelle", first performed 1874 [ voice and piano ], from Six mélodies - 2ème recueil, no. 1, Paris, Renaud [sung text not yet checked]
• by Michaël Levinas (b. 1949), "Villanelle rythmique", published 1984 [ soprano or tenor and small orchestra ], from Nuits d'été daraus, no. 1, a re-orchestration of the melody by Berlioz ; Paris, München : Salabert [sung text not yet checked]
• by Adrien Lévy , "Villanelle" [ voice and piano ], Paris, J. & H. Pitault [sung text not yet checked]
• by Victor Loret (1859 - 1946), "Villanelle", op. 102 (1885), published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Colombier [sung text not yet checked]
• by Émile Louis (d. 1890), "Villanelle", published 1878 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carlo Luigi , "Villanelle" [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Édouard Moullé (1845 - 1923), "Villanelle", <<1900 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Paray (1886 - 1979), "Villanelle", 1912, orchestrated 1944 by Ernest Dupré [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Édouard Pascal , "Villanelle", published 1845 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Pacini ; four settings [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Poisot (1822 - 1904), "Villanelle rythmique" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jean-Théodore Radoux (1835 - 1911), "Villanelle rythmique", published 1874, stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, 1er recueil, no. 12, Paris, L. Gregh [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ferdinand Raynal , "Tous les deux", subtitle: "Villanelle rythmique", published 1880 [ voice and piano ], Bordeaux, Emile Marchand [sung text not yet checked]
• by Napoléon-Henri Reber (1807 - 1880), "Villanelle", published 1880 [ high voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies pour chant et piano - 2^ième receuil, no. 1, Paris, Richault [sung text not yet checked]
• by J. de Rin , "Villanelle rythmique" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Émile Selmer , "Villanelle", op. 8, published 1914 [ voice and piano ], Paris, self-published [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gabriel Sizes (1872 - 1946), "Villanelle", published 1890 [ voice and piano ], Toulouse, Martin & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
• by Étienne Soubre (1813 - 1871), "Villanelle rythmique" [ soprano and piano ], from Quatre mélodies, no. 2, Bruxelles, Schott [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ernest Tessier (1851 - 1909), as Ernest Lavigne, "Villanelle" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by R. Toinet , "Villanelle" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Edoardo Vera (1821 - 1889), "Quand viendra la saison nouvelle - Villanelle" [ high voice and piano ], Leander & Cock [sung text not yet checked]
• by Edoardo Vera (1821 - 1889), "Quand viendra la saison nouvelle - Villanelle", published 1856 [ vocal duet for soprano and contralto with piano ], from Rose e spine, no. 8, Milano, Giovanni Canti; London [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Viardot (1857 - 1941), "Villanelle", published 1887, stanzas 1-2 [ high voice and piano ], from Six mélodies, poésies de T. Gautier, M. Carré, Sully Prudhomme et M. Bouchor, no. 6, Paris, Henri Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Paul Vidal (1863 - 1931), "Villanelle", published 1898 [ medium voice and piano ], from Dix mélodies, no. 1, Paris, A. Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
• by Anselm Vinée (1847 - 1921), "Villanelle" [ vocal duet for 2 sopranos with piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jean-Baptiste Théodore Weckerlin (1821 - 1910), "Saison nouvelle", published 1877 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jacques-Michel Zoubaloff (1876 - 1941), "Villanelle rythmique", copyright © 1925 [ soprano and piano ], from Quatre poésies de Théophile Gautier, no. 2, Paris, L. Grus [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874) , "Ländliches Lied" ; composed by Hector Berlioz, Mathilde von Kralik.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by F. Bachmann ; composed by Louis Lacombe.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English [singable] (Samuel Byrne) , "Villanelle"
• ENG English [singable] (Shula Keller) , "Villanelle", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , copyright © 2015
• FRI Frisian (Geart van der Meer) , "Villanelle", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Nele Gramß) , "Villanelle", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Contadinella", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 131

When verdant spring again approaches,
When winter's chills have disappeared,
Through the woods we shall stroll, my darling,
The fair primrose to cull at will.

The trembling bright pearls that are shining,
Each morning we shall brush aside;
We shall go to hear the gay thrushes
Singing.

The flowers are abloom, my darling,
Of happy lovers 'tis the month;
And the bird his soft wing englossing,
Sings [carols sweet]1 within his nest.

Come with me on the mossy bank,
Where we'll talk of nothing else but love,
And whisper with thy voice so tender:
Always!

Far, far off let our footsteps wander,
Fright'ning the hiding hare away,
While the deer at the spring is gazing,
Admiring his reflected horns.

Then back home, with our hearts rejoicing,
And fondly our fingers entwined,
Lets return, let's return bringing fresh wild berries
Wood-grown.