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by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)

Parfois, lorsque tout dort, je m'assieds...
Language: French (Français) 
Parfois, lorsque tout dort, je m'assieds plein de joie
Sous le dôme étoilé qui sur nos fronts flamboie ;
J'écoute si d'en haut il tombe quelque bruit ;
Et l'heure vainement me frappe de son aile
Quand je contemple, ému, cette fête éternelle
Que le ciel rayonnant donne au monde la nuit.

Souvent alors j'ai cru que ces soleils de flamme 
Dans ce monde endormi n'échauffaient que mon âme ;
Qu'à les comprendre seul j'étais prédestiné ;
Que j'étais, moi, vaine ombre obscure et taciturne,
Le roi mystérieux de la pompe nocturne ;
Que le ciel pour moi seul s'était illuminé !

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), no title, written 1829, appears in Les Feuilles d'automne, no. 21 [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 Auguste Guéroult (1836 - 1911), "Parfois, lorsque tout dort", op. 17 no. 3, published [1879] [ medium voice and piano ], from Poèmes lyriques, 2ème livre, no. 3, Paris, Éd. Félix Mackar  [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Charles Lefebvre (1843 - 1917), "Contemplation", op. 4, published [1900] [ medium voice and piano ], from Vingt Mélodies en trois volumes, no. 16, Paris, Éd. A. Noël [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912), "La nuit", 1912, published 1913 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Mario van Overeem (1872 - 1946), "Parfois, lorsque tout dor" [ voice and piano ], from Mélodies : pour chant et piano, no. 1, Bruxelles : Cranz [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Tak někdy, vše když spí…", Prague, first published 1877


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-04-03
Line count: 12
Word count: 96

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