by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs
Translation © by Marvin J. Ward

Dès que la nuit monte au ciel
Language: French (Français) 
Available translation(s): ENG GER
Dès que la [nuit]1 monte au ciel, 
[le monde]2 est à nous, et aux dieux. 
Nous allons des champs à la source, 
des bois obscurs [aux clairières]3,
où nous mènent nos pieds nus.

Les petites étoiles brillent assez 
pour les petites ombres que nous sommes. 
Quelquefois, sous les branches basses, 
nous trouvons des biches endormies.

Mais plus charmant la nuit que toute autre chose, 
il est un lieu connu de nous seuls 
et qui nous attire à travers la forêt : 
un buisson de roses mystérieuses.

Car rien n'est divin sur la terre 
à l'égal du parfum des roses dans la nuit. 
Comment se fait-il qu'au temps où j'étais seule 
je ne m'en sentais pas enivrée ?

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 in some editions, and K. Sorabji, "lune"
2 K. Sorabji: "la Nuit"
3 K. Sorabji: "au Clairière"

Authorship:

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

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

  • ENG English (Marvin J. Ward) , no title, copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , "Evening roses", written 2002, first published 2002, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , written c2005, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Rosen der Nacht", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this text: Marvin J. Ward , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 17
Word count: 117

As soon as the night climbs up into the...
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
As soon as the night climbs up into the sky, 
the world belongs to us and to the gods. 
We go from the fields to the spring, 
from the dark woods to the clearings, 
where our bare feet lead us. 

The small stars shine brightly enough 
for the small shadows that we are. 
Sometimes, under the low branches, 
we find sleeping does. 

But more charming in the night than everything else, 
there is a place known only to us 
and that draws us through the forest: 
a bush of mysterious roses. 

For nothing on earth is so divine
as the perfume of roses in the night. 
How is it that during the time when I was alone 
I did not feel drunken with it?

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "Roses dans la nuit" = "Roses in the night"

Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2003 by Marvin J. Ward, (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:

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 17
Word count: 124