La chanson de Roland
"My mother used to sing this song when I was a child, she had learned it at school." -Monique
La chanson de Roland
The Song of Roland
Chanson enfantine
Children's Song
(French)
(English)
Le noble Charles, Roi des Francs,
Avait passé monts et torrents,
Restait l'arrière-garde
Ayant pour chef Roland le Preux
Voilà qu'ils se hasardent
Au fond d'un val bien ténébreux.
Hélas ! Le traître Ganelon
A fait garder ce noir vallon
Car une armée immense
Soudain descend des pics voisins,
La lutte à mort commence
Aux cris stridents des Sarrasins.
L'épée au poing, fier et sanglant,
Il crie aussi le bon Roland
Il court dans la bataille
Jonchant de morts le sombre val
Il frappe, il brise, il taille
Partout rayonne Durandal*.
Blessé trois fois, sire Olivier
Dit à Roland : "Beau chevalier,
Là-bas est Charlemagne,
Sonnez vers lui, sonnez du cor,
Sonnez par la montagne."
Le bon Roland dit : "Pas encor."
Enfin, percé de part en part
Roland sonna : c'était trop tard.
Autour de lui, dans l'ombre
Râlaient les gens et les chevaux
Vaincu, mais par le nombre,
Roland mourut à Roncevaux.
Noble Charles, King of the Franks,
Had passed through mountains and streams,
The rearguard remained
Whose chief was Roland the Valiant,
Now they ventured
To the bottom of a very dark vale.
Alas! The traitor Ganelon
Had this dark valley guarded,
Because an immense army
Suddenly comes down from the nearby peaks,
The fight to the death begins
With the shrill screams of the Saracens.
With sword in hand, proud and bloody,
Good Roland yells too;
He runs into the battle,
Littering the dark vale with the dead,
He strikes, he shatters, he cuts down,
Durandal* is shining everywhere.
Wounded three times, Lord Olivier
Says to Roland,: "Fine knight,
There is Charlemagne,
Sound out towards him, sound the horn,
Sound out across the mountain."
Good Roland says, "Not yet."
Finally, pierced through and through,
Roland sounded the horn; it was too late.
Around him, in the shadows,
People and horses were gasping.
Defeated, but by the force of numbers,
Roland died at Roncevaux.
Notes
Lyrics: Maurice Bouchor (1855 - 1929)
Music: Folk tune from the Basque Country.
* Durandal (or Durendal) is the name of Roland's mythic sword.
Comments
Of course, the actual battle didn't happen this way. Charlemagne's rearguard was indeed annihilated at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass - not by Saracens but by Vascones who lived in the North of Spain. This song was inspired by the romanticized version of the battle described in "La Chanson de Roland", the oldest surviving major work of French literature.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Monique Palomares for contributing, translating this song (with Lisa) and for the comment and mp3.
Image: Cover of "La Chanson de Roland, texte critique, traduction et commentaire, grammaire et glossaire" (1890) by Léon Gautier.
Merci beaucoup !
