Fish are eyes that forget

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by Max Jacob (1876 - 1944)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Les poissons sont des yeux qui oublient

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Les poissons sont des yeux qui oublient.
Les barques sont des yeux. Les yeux sont 
des barques portant le soleil. Les yeux sont
des barques dont les cils sont des rames.
Les poissons sont des yeux qui se ferment.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Max Jacob (1876 - 1944), no title, written 1909, appears in Poèmes de Saint Matorel, Éd. Kahnweiler, first published 1911 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Robert Caby (1905 - 1992), "Les poissons sont des yeux qui oublient", 1945 [ medium voice and piano ], from Cinq poèmes de Saint Matorel, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2022-08-08
Line count: 5
Word count: 39

Fish are eyes that forget

Language: English after the French (Français)

Fish are eyes that forget. 
Boats are eyes. Eyes are
boats that carry the sun. Eyes are
boats whose lashes are oars. 
Fish are eyes that close.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Les poissons sont des yeux qui oublient" = "Fish are eyes that forget"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 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 Max Jacob (1876 - 1944), no title, written 1909, appears in Poèmes de Saint Matorel, Éd. Kahnweiler, first published 1911
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-05-15
Line count: 5
Word count: 27