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La chenille, la mouche, la puce, etc.

from Le Bestiaire .​.​. Guillaume Apollinaire (2018) by Thomas Oboe Lee

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lyrics

La Chenille.
Le travail mené à la richesse,
Pauvres poètes, travaillons!
La chenille en peinant sans cesse
Devient le riche papillon.

The Caterpillar.
Labor leads to riches,
Poor poets, let's get to it!
The caterpillar, by its diligence,
Becomes the rich butterfly.

La Mouche.
Nos mouches savent des chansons
Que leur apprirent en Norvège
Les mouches ganiques qui sont
Les divinités de la neige.

The Fly.
Our flies know songs
Taught to them in Norway
By ganique flies which are
Deities of the snow.

La Puce.
Puces, amis, amantes même,
Qu’ils sont cruels ceux qui nous aiment!
Tout notre sang coule pour eux.
Les bien-aimés sont malheureux.

The Flea.
Fleas, friends, even lovers —-
How cruel are those who love us!
All our blood is spilled for them.
It’s the beloved who are wretched.

La Sauterelle.
Voici la fine sauterelle,
La nourriture de Saint Jean.
Puissent mes vers être comme elle,
Le régal des meilleures gens.

The Grasshopper.
Here’s the fine grasshopper,
John the Baptist’s food.
May my poetry be like it,
The treat of the best people.

credits

from Le Bestiaire .​.​. Guillaume Apollinaire (2018), released October 11, 2018

license

all rights reserved

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about

Thomas Oboe Lee Cambridge, Massachusetts

Thomas Oboe Lee was born in China in 1945. He lived in São Paulo, Brazil, for six years before coming to the United States in 1966. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, he studied composition at the New England Conservatory and Harvard University. He has been a member of the music faculty at Boston College since 1990. ... more

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