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by Louise-Rose Gérard (1866 - 1953), as Rosemonde Gérard

Ils vont, les petits canards
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG ENG GER
Ils vont, les petits canards,
Tout au bord de la rivière,
Comme de bons campagnards.

Barboteurs et frétillards,
Heureux de troubler l'eau claire,
Ils vont, les petits canards.

Ils semblent un peu jobards,
Mais ils sont à leur affaire,
Comme de bons campagnards.

Dans l'eau pleine de têtards,
Où tremble une herbe légère,
Ils vont, les petits canards,

Marchant, par groupes épars,
D'une allure régulière
Comme de bons campagnards.1

Amoureux et nasillards,
Chacun avec sa commère,
Ils vont, les petits canards,
Comme de bons campagnards.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   E. Chabrier 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Rosemonde Gérard, Les Pipeaux, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1889, pages 36-37.

1 Chabrier adds:
Dans le beau vert d'épignards
De l'humide cressonnière
Ils vont, les petits canards,

Et quoiqu'un peu goguenards,
Ils sont d'humeur débonnaire
Comme de bons campagnards!

Faisant, en cercles bavards,
Un vrai bruit de pétaudière,
Ils vont, les petits canards,

Dodus, lustrés et gaillards,
Ils sont gais à leur manière,
Comme de bons campagnards!

Text Authorship:

  • by Louise-Rose Gérard (1866 - 1953), as Rosemonde Gérard, "Villanelle des petits canards", appears in Les pipeaux, in 1. Rustica, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1889 [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 Emmanuel Chabrier (1841 - 1894), "Villanelle des petits canards", 1889 [ medium voice and piano or orchestra ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Jules Mazellier (1879 - 1959), "Les petits canards" [ medium voice and piano or orchestra ], from Le livre chantant, no. 10, Éd. Max Eschig [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • ENG English [singable] (Peter Low) , "The little ducks go walking", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Brian Charles Witkowski) , copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2017, (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: 19
Word count: 86

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