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Nuit d'étoiles, sous tes voiles, sous ta brise et tes parfums, Triste lyre qui soupire, je rêve aux amours défunts. La sereine mélancolie vient éclore au fond de mon coeur, Et j'entends l'âme de ma mie Tressaillir dans le bois rêveur. Dans les ombres de la feuillée, Quand tout bas je soupire seul, Tu reviens, pauvre âme éveillée, Toute blanche dans ton linceuil. Je revois à notre fontaine tes regards bleus comme les cieux; Cette rose, c'est ton haleine, Et ces étoiles sont tes yeux.
P. Allen sets stanzas 1-2, 4
C. Debussy sets stanzas 1, 2, 4
E. Tessier sets stanzas 1-3
C. Widor sets stanzas 1-3
About the headline (FAQ)
Note: in the original poem, the first stanza is a refrain.At head of poem:
Je me promenais dans un jardin délicieux : sous l'épais gazon on voyait des violettes et des roses dont le doux parfum embaumait l'air. Un son doux et harmonieux se faisait entendre, et une tendre clarté éclairait le paysage. Les fleurs semblaient tressaillir de bonheur et exhaler de doux soupirs. Tout à coup, je crus m'apercevoir que j'étais moi-même le chant que j'entendais, et que je mourais. -- Hoffmann.
Authorship:
- by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), "La dernière Pensée de Weber", written 1845, appears in Les Stalactites, no. 32, first published 1846 [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 Peter Allen (b. 1952), "Nuit d'étoiles", 1987, stanzas 1-2,4 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "Nuit d'étoiles", L. 2/(4) (1880), stanzas 1,2,4 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jeff Smallman (b. 1965), "Nuit d'étoiles", published 2003 [ high voice and piano ], from Tableaux éternels, no. 1, Hensall, Ontario (Canada), Lighthouse Music Publications [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Tessier (1851 - 1909), as Ernest Lavigne, "Nuit d'étoiles", stanzas 1-3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Marie Jean Albert Widor (1844 - 1937), "Nuit d'étoiles", op. 14 no. 1, stanzas 1-3 [ high voice and piano ], from Quarante mélodies, no. 1, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) [singable] (Núria Colomer) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English [singable] (Samuel Byrne) , "Starry night"
- ENG English (Melissa Malde) , "Night of stars", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Amy Pfrimmer) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , copyright © 2020, (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: 85
Night of Stars, under the veils of your perfumed breezes, a sad lyre sighs, and I dream of love departed. Serene melancholy comes to brood in the depths of my heart, and I hear the sound of my trembling breath in the dreamy wood. In the shadows of the leaves, when in a low whisper I sigh alone, you return, a poor soul awakened, completely white in your shroud. I see you again at our fountain Your eyes as blue as the sky; The scent of this rose, it is your breath, And your eyes are the light from these stars.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "Nuits d'étoiles" = "Night of Stars"
Translation of the epigraph:
I was walking in a delicious garden; Where under the thick grass we saw violets and roses From which sweet perfume filled the air. I heard a soft, sweet harmonious sound And a delicate transparent light fell over the scene The flowers seemed to quiver with happiness and exhaled their sweet sighs. Suddenly, I realized that the song came from within me, And that I was dying.Note for line 7 ("from within me"): literally - I was, myself, the song I heard
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 by Amy Pfrimmer, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), "La dernière Pensée de Weber", written 1845, appears in Les Stalactites, no. 32, first published 1846
This text was added to the website: 2023-06-04
Line count: 16
Word count: 101