Sur le Pont d'Avignon Lyrics
A French children's song and ring dance whose title means "On the Bridge of Avignon". Everyone dances in a circle, and each verse adds a group who dance in their own way: gentlemen, ladies and friars. The French words come with a line-by-line English translation.
Sur le Pont d'Avignon
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse, danse;
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse en rond.
Les beaux messieurs font comm' ça,
Et puis encor' comm' ça:
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse, danse,
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse en rond.
Les belles dames font comm' ça,
Et puis encore comm' ça:
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse, danse,
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse en rond.
Et les capucins font comm' ça,
Et puis encore comm' ça:
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse, danse,
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse en rond.
In English
On the bridge of Avignon,
Everyone dances there, dances;
On the bridge of Avignon,
Everyone dances there in a ring.
The fine gentlemen do it like this,
And then once more like this:
On the bridge of Avignon,
Everyone dances there, dances,
On the bridge of Avignon,
Everyone dances there in a ring.
The fine ladies do it like this,
And then once more like this:
On the bridge of Avignon,
Everyone dances there, dances,
On the bridge of Avignon,
Everyone dances there in a ring.
And the friars do it like this,
And then once more like this:
On the bridge of Avignon,
Everyone dances there, dances,
On the bridge of Avignon,
Everyone dances there in a ring.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/sur-le-pont-d-avignon/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Sung in French at a dancing pace, then the same tune with the English words if you like
- Best for ages
- 2 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Tout le monde y danse, danse | Hold hands in a ring and dance round to the left in small steps. |
| Tout le monde y danse en rond | Keep circling, then slow down at the end of the line. |
| Les beaux messieurs font comm' ça | Let the children choose a move for gentlemen, such as a bow, and everyone copies it, twice. |
| Les belles dames font comm' ça | Choose a move for ladies, such as a curtsy, and everyone copies it, twice. |
| Et les capucins font comm' ça | Choose a move for the friars, such as hands pressed together with a nod, and everyone copies it, twice. |
What Does Sur le Pont d'Avignon Mean?
The song is in French. Its title, Sur le pont d'Avignon, means "On the bridge of Avignon", and Avignon is a city in the south of France. It is said roughly sewr luh pawn da-vee-nyawn: the French "u" in sur is a sound English does not have, and the ends of pont and Avignon are nasal, so the "n" is barely heard.
Here is the sense of the words. Tout le monde is "everyone", y danse is "dances there", and en rond is "in a ring". In the verses, les beaux messieurs are the fine gentlemen, les belles dames the fine ladies and les capucins the Capuchin friars, men of a Catholic religious order who wore brown hooded robes. Each group "does it like this" (font comm' ça) and then "once more like this".
The printed words do not say what the move is. That is the game: whoever leads picks a gesture for each group, a bow, a curtsy or a nod, and everyone copies it before the dancing starts again.
History and Origin
The French words on this page come from The Baby's Bouquet: A Fresh Bunch of Old Rhymes and Tunes (1878), a book of rhymes and tunes decorated by the English artist Walter Crane. Its title page says the tunes were collected and arranged by "L. C.", who was Lucy Crane, the artist's sister. It prints the song under the French title with three verses, the gentlemen, the ladies and the friars.
The bridge is real. The Pont Saint-Bénézet once crossed the river Rhône at Avignon. It was built in the twelfth century and today stands with only four of its arches, the rest having been swept away by floods.
The 1878 printing has the line "Tout le monde y danse, danse". Many French children today sing a slightly different line, "l'on y danse", so the words can vary from place to place.
Learning Activities
- Ring dance: hold hands and walk round in a circle for the refrain; stop and copy the leader's move for each verse.
- Pick the moves: let a child decide how gentlemen, ladies and friars should move, and try a different move for each.
- Find Avignon: look at a map of France and find the Rhône, the river that flows past Avignon.
- Say it in French: learn one line a day: first "Tout le monde y danse", then "en rond".