This song cycle musicalizes five poems by Paul Verlaine.
Fun Facts:
1. This song was the first one composed for the song cycle, before Gabriel Faure had even decided to create a cycle, while he was in Venice with his wife.
2. The first person to perform this song was Amelie Faure, wife of the composer, in Paris in 1891.
"The givers of serenades
And the lovely women who listen
Exchange insipid words
Under the singing branches.
There is Thyrsis and Amyntas
And there's the eternal Clytander,
And there's Damis who, for many a
Heartless woman, wrote many a tender verse.
Their short silk coats,
Their long dresses with trains,
Their elegance, their joy
And their soft blue shadows
Whirl around in the ecstasy
Of a pink and grey moon,
And the mandolin prattles
Among the shivers from the breeze."
Les donneurs de sérénades
The givers of serenades
Et les belles écouteuses
And the beautiful (lady) listeners
Echangent des propos fades
Exchange (some) words insipid
Sous les ramures chanteuses
Under the branches singing
C'est Tircis et c'est Aminte,
It is Tircis and it is Aminte,
Et c'est Damis qui pour mainte
And it is Damis who for many a
Cruelle fait maint vers tendre.
Cruel (girl) makes many a verse tender.
Leurs courtes vestes de soie,
Their short jackets of silk,
Leurs longues robes a queues,
Their long dresses with trains,
Leur élégance, leur joie
Their elegance, their joy
Et leurs molles ombres bleues,
And their soft shadows blue,
Tourbillonnent dans l'extase
Whirl in the ecstasy
D'une lune rose et grise,
Of a moon pink and gray,
Et la mandoline jase,
And the mandolin chatters,
Parmi les frissons de brise. La la.
Midst the shudders of (the) breeze. La la.