Ponts-de-Ce - Francis Poulenc

"C" is one of Poulenc's most beautiful songs, one of his few direct responses to the German conquest of France in World War II. It is based on a poem by Louis Aragon, a prominent member of the intellectual resistence.

"Ce" is an abbreviation for Ponts-de-Ce, a village on the Loire where many bridges cross the river. Emphasizing this, a medieval / renaissance technique is applied where each verse ends with the sound of the letter "C".

French:
J'ai traversé Les Ponts-de-Cé
C'est là que tout a commencé
Une chanson des temps passés
Parle d'un chevalier blessé,
D'une rose sur la chaussée
Et d'un corsage délacé,
Du château d'un duc insensé
Et des cygnes dans les fossés,
De la prairie où vient danser
Une éternelle fiancée,
Et, j'ai bu comme un lait glacé
Le long lai des gloires faussées.
La Loire emporte mes pensées
Avec les voitures versées,
Et les armes désamorcées,
Et les larmes mal effacées,
Oh ! ma France ! ô ma délaissée !
J'ai traversé Les Ponts-de-Cé.

English:
I have crossed the bridges of Cé
It was there that it all began
A song of times past
Speaks of a wounded knight
Of a rose upon the road
And of a bodice unlaced
Of the castle of a mad duke
And of swans in its moats
Of the meadow where will dance
An eternal fiancée
And like cold milk I drink
The long lay of false glories
The Loire carries off my thoughts
Along with the overturned cars
And the defused weapons
And the tears not rubbed away
Oh my France, oh my abandoned one
I have crossed the bridges of Cé.

Sally Matthews, is the soprano, accompanied by Iain Burnside.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Ponts
• de
• Ce

[cleanmyroomforme]

thank you! sally matthews is amazing, and the translation really helps me to memorize this song, and understand it better. I'm currently studying this, and it is haunting me, in a wonderful way, of course. Poulenc always does that!

[ccdesan]

@cleanmyroomforme Thanks - I get exactly the same feeling.

[tholley8215]

Beautiful, tragically haunting poetry with such a tender yet bittersweet setting of Poulenc. The attendant photographs added a third dimension to the experience of reading, hearing and seeing the depth of this poem and its setting. Thank you for posting!!

[ccdesan]

@tholley8215 Thank you for your kind words!

[PaterEcstaticus888]

She's quite exquisite here. I love this performance.

[fledgehog]

the way she just fades out on the last note, quickly, straight, without vibrato....is haunting

[Ascentia]

Absolutely exquisite.  Thank you!

[alexanuchid]

nice tanslation

[Gosfrei]

Nicely done, Akela.