"Come through the meadow, my beauty," croons the singer to the beloved in the Auvergnat dialect. "I shall go through the woods/When you get there, pretty one/Wait for me if you wish." Canteloube precedes this first verse with several lines, slow but almost swaggering, sung on the syllable "lo" while arpeggios sweep through the orchestra as if it were a giant guitar or mandolin. When the actual lyrics begin, the first half of each line melodically rises and the second half falls, like the intake and release of breath in a gentle sigh. Canteloube repeats these patterns in the second verse:

We will talk, little girl,

We will talk together.

It is love of you, little one,

That makes me so happy.

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