Time, Extent and Number

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by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818 - 1894)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Le Temps, l'Étendue et le Nombre

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Le Temps, l'Étendue et le Nombre
Sont tombés du noir firmament
Dans la mer immobile et sombre.

Suaire de silence et d'ombre,
La nuit efface absolument
Le Temps, l'Étendue et le Nombre.

Tel qu'un lourd et muet décombre,
L'Esprit plonge au vide dormant,
Dans la mer immobile et sombre.

En lui-même, avec lui, tout sombre,
Souvenir, rêve, sentiment,
Le Temps, l'Étendue et le Nombre,
Dans la mer immobile et sombre.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Koechlin

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Confirmed with Leconte de Lisle, Poèmes tragiques, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1884, Pages 61-62.

Text Authorship:

by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818 - 1894), "Villanelle", appears in Poèmes tragiques, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1884 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 71

Time, Extent and Number

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Language: English after the French (Français)

Time, Extent and Number 
Have fallen from the black firmament 
Into the still and darkling sea.

Shroud of silence and shadow,
Night absolutely effaces 
Time, Extent and Number.

Like heavy, mute rubble 
The Spirit plunges into the sleeping void,
Into the still and darkling sea.

In itself, with it, everything sinks,
Memory, dream, feeling,
Time, Extent and Number,
Into the still and darkling sea.

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Translations of titles:
"Le temps, l'étendue et le nombre" = "Time, extent and number"
"Villanelle" = "Villanelle"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 by Grant Hicks, (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.
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Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle (1818 - 1894), "Villanelle", appears in Poèmes tragiques, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1884
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This text was added to the website: 2025-08-20
Line count: 13
Word count: 65