The Night Beauty | When I fall asleep and dream

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by Robert Desnos (1900 - 1945)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

La Belle‑de‑Nuit

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Quand je m'endors et quand je rêve
La belle-de-nuit se relève.
Elle entre dans la maison
En escaladant le balcon,
Un rayon de lune la suit,
Belle-de-nuit, fleur de minuit.

Text Authorship:

by Robert Desnos (1900 - 1945), "La Belle-de-Nuit", appears in Chantefables et Chantefleurs, Paris, Éd. Librairie Gründ, first published 1952 [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 Witold Lutoslawski (1913 - 1994), "La Belle-de-Nuit", 1990, published 1992, first performed 1991 [ high voice and orchestra or piano ], from Chantefleurs et chantefables, no. 1, Universal Editions [sung text not yet checked]
by Jean Wiéner (1896 - 1982), "La Belle-de-Nuit", 1959, published 1959 [ voice and piano ], from Les Chantefleurs, no. 27, Éd. Salabert [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Night Beauty", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2016-01-25
Line count: 6
Word count: 30

The Night Beauty

Language: English after the French (Français)

When I fall asleep and dream, 
The night beauty arises.
She comes into the house 
By climbing the balcony, 
A moonbeam follows her, 
Night beauty, flower of midnight.

Translator's note: the flower known in French as belle-de-nuit ("beauty of night") is generally known in English as the "four o'clock flower," but the peculiarity of translating the last line as "Four o'clock flower, flower of midnight" requires no comment.

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 Robert Desnos (1900 - 1945), "La Belle-de-Nuit", appears in Chantefables et Chantefleurs, Paris, Éd. Librairie Gründ, first published 1952
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-01
Line count: 6
Word count: 28