Marie | You were dancing there little girl

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Marie

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Vous y dansiez petite fille
Y danserez-vous mère-grand
C'est la maclotte qui sautille
Toutes les cloches sonneront
Quand donc reviendrez-vous Marie

Les masques sont silencieux
Et la musique est si lointaine
Qu'elle semble venir des cieux
Oui je veux vous aimer mais vous aimer à peine
Et mon mal est délicieux

Les brebis s'en vont dans la neige
Flocons de laine et ceux d'argent
Des soldats passent et que n'ai-je
Un coeur à moi ce coeur changeant
Changeant et puis encor que sais-je

Sais-je où s'en iront tes cheveux
Crépus comme mer qui moutonne
Sais-je où s'en iront tes cheveux
Et tes mains feuilles de l'automne
Que jonchent aussi nos aveux

Je passais au bord de la Seine
Un livre ancien sous le bras
Le fleuve est pareil à ma peine
Il s'écoule et ne tarit pas
Quand donc finira la semaine

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Marie", appears in Alcools, first published 1913 [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 Jean Apothéloz (1900 - 1965), "Marie", 1952 [ voice and piano ], from Chansons sur des textes de Guillaume Apollinaire pour chant et piano, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "Marie", FP. 81 no. 6 [ chorus ], from Sept chansons, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2005-01-12
Line count: 25
Word count: 142

Marie

Language: English after the French (Français)

You were dancing there little girl 
Will you dance there grandmother 
It is the maclotte that leaps about 
All the bells will sound
So when will you return Marie

The masks are silent 
And the music is so distant 
That it seems to come from the heavens 
Yes I want to love you but barely love you 
And my pain is delicious 

The ewes go off into the snow 
Flakes of wool and those of silver
Soldiers pass by and why don't I have 
A heart that is mine this changing heart
Changing and then again what do I know 

Do I know where your hair will go 
Frizzy like the foaming sea
Do I know where your hair will go 
And your hands leaves of Autumn 
That our confessions also bestrew

I passed by the bank of the Seine
An old book under my arm
The river is like my pain
It flows and does not dry up
So when will the week be done

Note for stanza 1, line 3, "maclotte": a traditional dance from the Ardennes.

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 Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "Marie", appears in Alcools, first published 1913
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-12-16
Line count: 25
Word count: 166