Nacht | Finstre, schwarze Riesenfalter

by Émile Albert Kayenberg (1860 - 1929), as Albert Giraud

Translation by Otto Erich Hartleben (1864 - 1905)

Papillons noirs

Language: French (Français)

De sinistres papillons noirs
Du soleil ont éteint la gloire,
Et l'horizon semble un grimoire
Barbouillé d'encre tous les soirs.

Il sort d'occultes encensoirs
Un parfum troublant la mémoire;
De sinistres papillons noirs
Du soleil ont éteint la gloire.

Des monstres aux gluants suçoirs
Recherchent du sang pour le boire,
Et du ciel, en poussière noire,
Descendent sur nos désespoirs.
De sinistres papillons noirs.

Text Authorship:

by Émile Albert Kayenberg (1860 - 1929), as Albert Giraud, "Papillons noirs", appears in Pierrot lunaire, 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):

[ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Otto Erich Hartleben (1864 - 1905) , "Nacht", appears in Pierrot lunaire, Berlin, Verlag Deutscher Phantasten, first published 1893 ; composed by Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg, Otto Vrieslander.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-16
Line count: 13
Word count: 64

Finstre, schwarze Riesenfalter

Language: German (Deutsch) after the French (Français)

Our translations: CHI ENG FRE ITA NYN

Finstre, schwarze Riesenfalter
Töteten der Sonne Glanz.
Ein geschlossnes Zauberbuch,
Ruht der Horizont - verschwiegen.

Aus dem Qualm verlorner Tiefen
Steigt ein Duft, Erinnrung mordend!
Finstre, schwarze Riesenfalter
Töteten der Sonne Glanz.

Und vom Himmel erdenwärts
Senken sich mit schweren Schwingen
Unsichtbar die Ungetume
Auf die Menschenherzen nieder...
Finstre, schwarze Riesenfalter.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Otto Erich Hartleben (1864 - 1905), "Nacht", appears in Pierrot lunaire, Berlin, Verlag Deutscher Phantasten, first published 1893 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Émile Albert Kayenberg (1860 - 1929), as Albert Giraud, "Papillons noirs", appears in Pierrot lunaire, first published 1884
- Go to the text page.

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

by Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg (1874 - 1951), "Nacht (Passacaglia)", op. 21 no. 8 (1912), from Pierrot lunaire, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Otto Vrieslander (1880 - 1950), "Nacht", 1905?, published 1905 [ medium voice and piano ], from Pierrot lunaire, Dichtungen von A. Giraud ins deutstche übertragen von O. E. Hartleben, no. 35, München, Heinrich Lewy [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Mimmi Fulmer) (Ric Merritt) , "Night", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-16
Line count: 13
Word count: 50