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Bilingual Bedtime/French songs
RondeCircle dance

Gentil coquelicot.

J'ai descendu dans mon jardin

The melody of Gentil coquelicot on a staff, as engraved in the book
Download the tune

The melody as written on the staff, so you can learn the tune before you sing.

Verse 1

  1. J'ai descendu dans mon jardin (bis)zhay day-sahn-dew dahn mohn zhar-dehnI went down into my garden (repeat)
  2. Pour y cueillir du romarin.poor ee kuhy-leer dew roh-mah-rehn.To pick some rosemary.

Refrain

  1. Gentil coq'licot, Mesdames.zhahn-tee kok-lee-koh, may-dah-muh.Pretty poppy, ladies.
  2. Gentil coq'licot nouveau.zhahn-tee kok-lee-koh noo-voh.Pretty new poppy.

Verse 2

  1. Pour y cueillir du romarin (bis)poor ee kuhy-leer dew roh-mah-rehnTo pick some rosemary (repeat)
  2. J'n'en avais pas cueilli trois brins :zhnahn-nah-veh pah kuh-yee trwah brehn :I hadn't gathered three sprigs of it:

Verse 3

  1. J'n'en avais pas cueilli trois brins, (bis)zhnahn-nah-veh pah kuh-yee trwah brehnI hadn't gathered three sprigs of it (repeat)
  2. Qu'un rossignol vint sur ma main :kuhn roh-see-nyol vehn sewr mah mehn :When a nightingale came onto my hand:

Verse 4

  1. Qu'un rossignol vint sur ma main, (bis)kuhn roh-see-nyol vehn sewr mah mehnWhen a nightingale came onto my hand (repeat)
  2. Il me dit trois mots en latin :eel muh dee trwah moh ahn lah-tehn :He said three words to me in Latin:

Verse 5

  1. Il me dit trois mots en latin, (bis)eel muh dee trwah moh ahn lah-tehnHe said three words to me in Latin (repeat)
  2. Que les hommes ne valent rien :kuh lay zohm nuh vahl ryehn :That men are worth nothing:

Verse 6

  1. Que les hommes ne valent rien, (bis)kuh lay zohm nuh vahl ryehnThat men are worth nothing (repeat)
  2. Et les garçons encor bien moins :ay lay gahr-sohn ahn-kohr byehn mwehn :And boys worth even less:

Verse 7

  1. Et les garçons encor bien moins, (bis)ay lay gahr-sohn ahn-kohr byehn mwehnAnd boys worth even less (repeat)
  2. Des dames il ne me dit rien :day dahm eel nuh muh dee ryehn :Of the ladies he said nothing to me:

Verse 8

  1. Des dames il ne me dit rien, (bis)day dahm eel nuh muh dee ryehnOf the ladies he said nothing to me (repeat)
  2. Mais des demoiselles beaucoup de bien :meh day duh-mwah-zehl boh-koo duh byehn :But of the young ladies plenty of good:

About this song

A chain song from Weckerlin's 1870 collection: each verse's last line opens the next, so a garden errand turns, step by step, into a nightingale's cheeky verdict on men, boys and girls. Coquelicot, poppy, is a fond nickname. J'ai descendu and encor are the old print's forms for je suis descendu and encore.

Where it comes from

The words: Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin, Chansons et rondes enfantines (Garnier, 1870).

The tune: Weckerlin, Chansons et rondes enfantines (Garnier, 1870), p. 24: the song's own vocal staff (F major, 3/4 verse then 2/4 refrain, Pas trop vite), read from the scan and checked against the Wikisource score transcription on the same page, which agrees note for note; the written-out bis of line 1 is engraved as a volta repeat

From the book

Bilingual Bedtime

Thirty-Five French Songs for Children

Buy paperbackBuy KindleBuy hardcoverAbout this edition
Dansons la capucineAll 35 songsAh ! mon beau château
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