Childhood memories | In the night a rose

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by Jean Cocteau (1889 - 1963)

Translation © by Victoria de Menil

Souvenirs d'enfance

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Pendant la nuit, une rose
Avance sous feux éteints.
S'il arrivait quelque chose,
Elle attendra le matin.

Les noix, ta mère les dore,
Pour ton arbre de Noël.
Souliers au bord de l'aurore...
Ils apprivoisent le ciel.

Jadis, l'enfance chérie,
Voyageait, allumant des 
Liverpool de féerie,
Splendides à regarder.

Une moustiquaire en tulle
Comme la neige on y meurt,
Surtout, si l'étoile brûle 
Les ailes du ramoneur.

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Text Authorship:

by Jean Cocteau (1889 - 1963), "Souvenirs d'enfance", written 1920, appears in Poésies 1917-1920, Paris, Éd. La Sirène, first published 1920 [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 Arthur Honegger (1892 - 1955), "Souvenirs d'enfance", H. 51 no. 3 (1920), published 1924, from Six Poésies de Jean Cocteau, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Jean Wiéner (1896 - 1982), "Souvenirs d'enfance", 1921, published 1924 [ voice and piano ], from Deux Poèmes de Jean Cocteau, no. 2, Éd. Max Eschig [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Victoria de Menil) , "Childhood memories", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 67

Childhood memories

Language: English after the French (Français)

 In the night a rose
 moves forward, all the lights off,
 If something happened
 It would wait until morning
 
 Your mother paints the nuts gold
 For your Christmas tree
 Shoes on the edge of dawn
 They tame the sky
 
 Before, the treasured childhood 
 Travelled lighting up
 Liverpools of fairies
 Splendid to look at
 
 A mosquito net
 Like snow, you die there,
 Especially if the star burns
 The wings of the chimney sweep.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Victoria de Menil, (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 Jean Cocteau (1889 - 1963), "Souvenirs d'enfance", written 1920, appears in Poésies 1917-1920, Paris, Éd. La Sirène, first published 1920
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 73