Cat | To put just one finger on it

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by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Chat

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

        Pour ne poser qu'un doigt dessus
         Le chat est bien trop grosse bête.
                  Sa queue rejoint sa tête,
                   Il tourne dans ce cercle
                 Et se répond à la caresse.

      Mais, la nuit, l'homme voit ses yeux
             Dont la pâleur est le seul don.
     Ils sont trop gros pour qu'il les cache
Et trop lourds pour le vent perdu du rêve.

                      Quand le chat danse
                C'est pour isoler sa prison
                         Et quand il pense
        C'est jusqu'aux murs de ses yeux.

Confirmed with Paul Éluard, Œuvres complètes, Vol. 1, Paris: Gallimard, 1968, Page 43.

Text Authorship:

by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Chat", appears in Les Animaux et leurs hommes, les hommes et leurs animaux, in Les Animaux et leurs hommes, no. 9, first published 1920 [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 Henri-Pierre Poupard (1901 - 1989), as Henri Sauguet, "Chat", 1921, published 1926 [ tenor and piano ], from Les animaux et leurs hommes, no. 5, Éd. Jobert [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Cat", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 80

Cat

Language: English after the French (Français)

              To put just one finger on it
       The cat is much too large a beast.
              His tail reaches to his head,
                   He turns in that circle 
        And molds himself to the caress.

         But, at night, man sees his eyes
           Whose pallor is their only gift.
        They are too large for him to hide
And too heavy for the lost wind of dreams.

                   When the cat dances
                 It is to isolate his prison
                    And when he thinks
       It is as far as the walls of his eyes.

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 Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Chat", appears in Les Animaux et leurs hommes, les hommes et leurs animaux, in Les Animaux et leurs hommes, no. 9, first published 1920
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-11-29
Line count: 13
Word count: 87