The dark rose of thy mouth
Draw nigher, draw nigher!
Thy breath is the wind of the south,
A wind of fire,
The wind and the rose and darkness, 
O Rose of my Desire!

Deep silence of the night,
Husht like a breathless lyre,
Save the sea's thunderous might,
Dim, menacing, dire,
Silence and wind and sea, they are thee, 
O Rose of my Desire!

As a wind-eddying flame
Leaping higher and higher,
Thy soul, thy secret name,
Leaps thro' Death's blazing pyre,
Kiss me, Imperishable Fire, dark Rose, 
O Rose of my Desire!

Author's note: There is an old mystical legend that when a soul among the dead woos a soul among the living, so that both may be reborn as one, the sign is a dark rose, or a rose of flame, in the heart of the night.

Text Authorship:

• by William Sharp (1855 - 1905), as Fiona Macleod, "The Rose of the Night", appears in The Hour of Beauty, first published 1907 [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 Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884 - 1920), "The Rose of the Night", op. 11 no. 3, A. 59 (1918), published 1918, orchestrated 1918 [ high voice and piano ], from Three Poems of Fiona Macleod, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La Rose de la Nuit", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-08-18
Line count: 18
Word count: 94

La rose sombre de ta bouche
Vient plus près, vient plus près !
Ton souffle est le vent du sud,
Un vent de feu,
Le vent et la rose et l'obscurité,
Ô Rose de mon Désir !

Le profond silence de la nuit,
Étouffée comme une lyre oppressée,
Excepté le pouvoir étourdissant de la mer,
Faible, menaçant, sinistre,
Silence et vent et mer, ils sont toi,
Ô Rose de mon Désir !

Comme une flamme tournoyant dans le vent
Sautant de plus en plus haut,
Ton âme, ton nom secret,
Saute à travers le bûcher ardent de la mort,
Embrasse-moi, Feu Impérissable, Rose sombre,
Ô Rose de mon Désir !