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:

• by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Roses dans la nuit", appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Bucoliques en Pamphylie, no. 33 [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 Marcel Dupré (1886 - 1971), "Roses dans la nuit", op. 6 no. 2, published 1920 [ high voice and piano ], from Deux mélodies tirées des Chansons de Bilitis, no. 2, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
• by Kaikhosru Sorabji, born Leon Dudley Sorabji (1892 - 1988), "Roses du soir", op. 1 no. 2, KSS 3 (1915), published 2002, first performed 2001 [ voice and piano ], Bath, The Sorabji Archive [sung text checked 2 times]
• by Aimée Strohl (1865 - 1941), "Roses dans la nuit ", published 1900 [ high voice and piano ], from Bilitis, Poème en 12 chants, no. 6, Paris, Éd. Toledo & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]

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

Until night rises in the sky, 
the world belongs to us, and to the gods. 
We go from field to spring, 
from dark wood to forest glade, 
wherever our bare feet lead us.

Tiny stars shine just enough 
for the tiny shadows that we are. 
Sometimes, under the low-hanging boughs, 
we discover hinds asleep.

But more engaging than anything else is night. 
It is a spot known only to us 
and which entices us into the forest: 
a mysterious rose bush.

For there is nothing so divine on earth 
as to compare with the scent of roses in the night. 
How is it that when I was alone 
I did not feel intoxicated by it?