One lovely night! | The flowers sleep in the field

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by Anatole de Ségur, Marquis (1823 - 1902)

Translation © by Faith J. Cormier

Par une belle nuit

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Les fleurs dorment sur la prairié
La nuit est claire,
Viens, ma sœur !
Du soir et de la rêverie
Goûtons ensemble la douceur !

Viens ! la lune mystérieuse
Monte dans l'ombre pour mieux voir.
Et nous regarde curieuse
Pardessus le grand sapin noir !

Voistu comme tout est tranquille
Aux bois, aux champs et dans le ciel
On dirait que l'heure immobile
S'arrête en son cours éternel,

Et que, voyant la nuit si belle
Le temps, las de toujours voler,
Replie un moment sa grande aile
Et s'oubie à la contempler !

L'homme s'en va !
Les vents effacent
La faible empreinte de ses pas !
Les spectateurs changent et passent
Le spectacle ne change pas !

Mais sur son char la nuit s'avance
C'est l'heure noire du sommeil !
Viens, ma sœur, et dans l'espérance
Allons attendre le soleil !

Text Authorship:

by Anatole de Ségur, Marquis (1823 - 1902), "Par une belle nuit", appears in Sursum Corda, Paris, Nouvelle éd. , first published 1874 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), "Par une belle nuit", CG 421 (1869), published 1870 [ vocal duet for contralto and soprano with piano or orchestra ], Éd. Choudens; confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "One lovely night!", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Jana Durand

This text was added to the website: 2004-03-25
Line count: 26
Word count: 133

One lovely night!

Language: English after the French (Français)

The flowers sleep in the field
and the night is clear. 
Come, sister.
Let us taste together the sweetness 
of the evening and of dreams!

Come! The mysterious moon
climbs through the darkness to see better,
peeping curiously at us
over the tall black fir! 

Do you see how quiet everything is
in woods, fields and heaven? 
Time pauses
its eternal course. 

Seeing how fair the night is
and weary of its endless flight,
Time folds for a moment its broad wings 
and forgets itself in contemplation! 

Man departs! 
The wind erases
his faint footsteps!
The spectators change and pass away, 
but the spectacle is changeless!

Night in its chariot advances 
and the dark hour of sleep is here!
Come, sister, and let us await 
the sun in hope!

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2004 by Faith J. Cormier, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Anatole de Ségur, Marquis (1823 - 1902), "Par une belle nuit", appears in Sursum Corda, Paris, Nouvelle éd. , first published 1874
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2004-03-25
Line count: 26
Word count: 129