Day surprises me and night frightens me

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by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Le jour m’étonne et la nuit me fait peur

(Sung text for setting by F. Poulenc)

See original

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT ENG

Le jour m’étonne et la nuit me fait peur
L’été me hante et l’hiver me poursuit

Un animal sur la neige a posé
Ses pattes sur le sable ou dans la boue
Ses pattes venues de plus loin que mes pas
Sur une piste où la mort
A les empreintes de la vie.

Le jour m’étonne et la nuit me fait peur
L’été me hante et l’hiver me poursuit

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,2,1 of the original text.

Composition:

Francis Poulenc

Figure humaine

Text Authorship:

by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Un loup"

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (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: 2021-01-22
Line count: 7
Word count: 53

Day surprises me and night frightens me

(Sung text translation for setting by F. Poulenc)

See original

Language: English after the French (Français)

Day surprises me and night frightens me
Summer haunts me and Winter pursues me

An animal has placed on the snow
Its paws on the sand or in the mud
Its paws come from farther away than my footsteps
On a track where death
Bears the imprints of life.

Day surprises me and night frightens me
Summer haunts me and Winter pursues me

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,2,1 of the original text.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Un loup"
- Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-18
Line count: 7
Word count: 49