Songs

Pantomime

by Claude Debussy

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Text & Translation

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Pantomime
French source: Paul Verlaine

Pierrot, qui n’a rien d’un Clitandre,
Vide un flacon sans plus attendre,
Et, pratique, entame un pâté.

Cassandre, au fond de l’avenue,
Verse une larme méconnue
Sur son neveu déshérité.

Ce faquin d’Arlequin combine
L’enlèvement de Colombine
Et pirouette quatre fois.

Colombine rêve, surprise
De sentir un coeur dans la brise
Et d’entendre en son coeur des voix.

Pantomime
English translation © Richard Stokes

Pierrot, who is no Clitandre,
Gulps down a bottle without delay
And, being practical, starts on a pie.

Cassandre, at the end of the avenue,
Sheds an unnoticed tear
For his disinherited nephew.

That rogue of a Harlequin schemes
How to abduct Colombine
And pirouettes four times.

Colombine dreams, amazed
To sense a heart in the breeze
And hear voices in her heart.

Translations by Richard Stokes, from A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)

Pantomime
French source: Paul Verlaine

Pantomime
English source: Richard Stokes

Pierrot, qui n’a rien d’un Clitandre,
Pierrot, who is no Clitandre,
Vide un flacon sans plus attendre,
Gulps down a bottle without delay
Et, pratique, entame un pâté.
And, being practical, starts on a pie.

Cassandre, au fond de l’avenue,
Cassandre, at the end of the avenue,
Verse une larme méconnue
Sheds an unnoticed tear
Sur son neveu déshérité.
For his disinherited nephew.

Ce faquin d’Arlequin combine
That rogue of a Harlequin schemes
L’enlèvement de Colombine
How to abduct Colombine
Et pirouette quatre fois.
And pirouettes four times.

Colombine rêve, surprise
Colombine dreams, amazed
De sentir un coeur dans la brise
To sense a heart in the breeze
Et d’entendre en son coeur des voix.
And hear voices in her heart.

Composer

Claude Debussy

(Achille) Claude Debussy was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Please click…

Poet

Paul Verlaine

Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry. Born in Metz, Verlaine was educated at the Lycée Impérial…

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