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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]1 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.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Leconte de Lisle, Poèmes tragiques, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1884, Pages 61-62.
1 Koechlin: "entièrement"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]
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 Koechlin (1867 - 1950), "Villanelle", op. 21 no. 1 (1900-1) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ernest Moret (1871 - 1949), "Le temps, l'étendue et le nombre", published 1901 [ high voice and piano ], from Poèmes du silence - vibrations musicales - 1ère série, no. 1, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marguerite Roesgen-Champion (1894 - 1976), "Villanelle", published 1945 [ medium voice and piano ], from Cinq poèmes pour chant et piano, no. 1, Paris, Éd. A la Flûte de Pan [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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 Have fallen from the black firmament Into the still and darkling sea. Shroud of silence and shadow, Night [absolutely]1 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.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesTranslations 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
This text was added to the website: 2025-08-20
Line count: 13
Word count: 65