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Peut-il se reposer celui qui dort Il ne voit pas la nuit ne voit pas l'invisible Il a de grandes couvertures Et des coussins de sang sur des coussins de boue Sa tête est sous les toits et ses mains sont fermées Sur les outils de la fatigue Il dort pour éprouver sa force La honte d'être aveugle dans un si grand silence. Aux rivages que la mer rejette Il ne voit pas les poses silencieuses Du vent qui fait entrer l'homme dans ses statues Quand il s'apaise. Bonne volonté du sommeil D'un bout à l'autre de la mort.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Paul Éluard, Œuvres complètes, Vol. 1, Paris: Gallimard, 1968, Page 302.
Text Authorship:
- by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Peut-il se reposer", written 1930, appears in À toute épreuve , in Confections, no. 13, appears in La vie immédiate, in Confections, no. 30, Éd. Surréalistes, first published 1932 [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), "Peut-il se reposer", FP 77 no. 1 (1935), published 1935 [ high voice and piano ], from Cinq Poèmes de Paul Éluard, no. 1, Éd. Durand [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Henri-Pierre Poupard (1901 - 1989), as Henri Sauguet, "Celui qui dort", 1963, first performed 1964 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Can he rest?", copyright © 2002, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Ingrid Schmithüsen) , "Kann er ruhen?", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 99
Can the sleeping man rest? He cannot see the night, cannot see the invisible. He has big blankets and cushions of blood on cushions of mud. His head is under the roofs, and his hands are clasped on the tools of fatigue. He is sleeping to test his strength - shameful to be blind in such a great silence. On the shores rejected by the ocean he does not see the silent poses of the wind which ushers man into its statues when it calms down. Oh the goodwill of sleep for the entire length of death!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2002 by Peter Low, (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.
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (1895 - 1952), as Paul Éluard, "Peut-il se reposer", written 1930, appears in À toute épreuve , in Confections, no. 13, appears in La vie immédiate, in Confections, no. 30, Éd. Surréalistes, first published 1932
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 97