As soft as the silence | As soft as the silence

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

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Aussi bas que le silence

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Aussi bas que le silence
D’un mort planté dans la terre
Rien que ténèbres en tête

Aussi monotone et sourd
Que l’automne dans la mare
Couverte de honte mate

Le poison veuf de sa fleur
Et de ses bêtes dorées
Crache sa nuit sur les hommes.

Confirmed with Paul Éluard, Œuvres complètes, Vol. 1, Paris: Gallimard, 1968, Page 1061.

Text Authorship:

by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Aussi bas que le silence" [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 Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "Aussi bas que le silence", FP 120 no. 3 (1943), first performed 1946 [ chorus ], from cantata Figure humaine, no. 3, Éditions Salabert [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2021-01-22
Line count: 9
Word count: 46

As soft as the silence

Language: English after the French (Français)

As soft as the silence 
Of the dead planted in the earth 
Nothing but darkness in mind 

As flat and dreary 
As Autumn in the mere
Covered in a dull shame

The widowed poison of its flower 
And of its gilded beasts
Spits out its night upon men.

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, "Aussi bas que le silence"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-04-18
Line count: 9
Word count: 48