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Les masses noires des arbres ne bougent pas plus que des montagnes. Les étoiles emplissent un ciel immense. Un air chaud comme un souffle humain caresse mes yeux et mes joues. Ô Nuit qui enfantas les Dieux! comme tu es douce sur mes lèvres! comme tu es chaude dans me cheveux! comme tu entres en moi ce soir, et comme je me sens grosse de tout ton printemps! Les fleurs qui vont [fleurir]1 vont toutes naitre de moi. Le vent qui respire est mon haleine. Le parfum qui passe est mon désir. Toutes les étoiles sont dans mes yeux. Ta voix, est-ce le bruit de la mer, est-ce le silence de la plaine? Ta voix, je ne la comprends pas, mais elle me jette la tête aux pieds et mes larmes lavent mes deux mains.
1 Koechlin: "fleurir cette nuit"
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Hymne à la nuit", written 1894, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Épigrammes dans l'Île de Chypre, no. 100, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897 [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 André-Marie Cuvelier (d. 1947), "Hymne à la nuit", 1935 [ high voice and piano ], from Chansons de Bilitis, 1er recueil, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950), "Hymne à la nuit", op. 39 no. 4 (1908), published 1923 [ high voice and piano ], from Chansons de Bilitis, no. 4, Éditions Maurice Senart [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sarah Daughtrey) , "Hymn to the night", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Hymne an die Nacht", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Sarah Daughtrey
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 19
Word count: 136
The black masses of the trees move no more than do the mountains. The stars are crowded in an immense sky. A breeze warm as a human breath caresses my cheeks and my eyes. Oh Night who gave birth to the Gods! how sweet you are upon my lips! how warm you are in my hair! how you enter into me this night, and I how I feel large with all your spring! The flowers which are going to bloom will be born of me. The wind which breathes is my breath. The perfume which wafts is my desire. All the stars are in my eyes. Your voice, is it the noise of the sea, or is is the silence of the plain? Your voice, I do not understand it, but it dizzies me, and my tears bathe my two hands.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Sarah Daughtrey, (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.
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Hymne à la nuit", written 1894, appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Épigrammes dans l'Île de Chypre, no. 100, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 19
Word count: 141