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by Paul Gérardy (1870 - 1933)

Il est des croix de bois si grandes
Language: French (Français) 
Il est des croix de bois si grandes
Par les chemins de mon pays,
D’immenses croix de bois, si grandes,
Avec des bondieux tout petits.

Et les petits bondieux de cuivre
Par les hivers tout dédorés,
Claquent au vent et semblent vivre
Sur le bois des vers dévoré.

Souvent par une main ils pendent
Au seul clou qu’épargna le temps –
Et les bras de la croix se tendent
Toujours au loin, immensément.

J’admire dans ces croix trop grandes
La naïve main qui les fit :
La croix, la douleur, est si grande,
L’homme, le souffrant, si petit !

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with La poésie francophone de Belgique 1804-1884, ed. by Liliane Wouters and Alain Bosquet, Éditions Traces, 1985.


Text Authorship:

  • by Paul Gérardy (1870 - 1933), "Croix de bois" [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 Gabriel-André Fabre (1858 - 1921), "Les croix de bois" [ voice and piano ], from Chants de Bretagne, no. 7, Paris, Bruxelles : Henry Lemoine et Cie [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Jules-Henri Gohy (1888 - 1985), "Croix de bois" [ high voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies, no. 3, Bruxelles, Éd. Mutuelle des compositeurs belges [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2018-07-16
Line count: 16
Word count: 97

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