Un grand sommeil noir
French source:
Paul Verlaine
Tombe sur ma vie:
Dormez, tout espoir,
Dormez, toute envie!
Je ne vois plus rien,
Je perds la mémoire
Du mal et du bien …
Ô la triste histoire!
Je suis un berceau
Qu’une main balance
Au creux d’un caveau:
Silence, silence!
A vast dark sleep
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Falls on my life:
Slumber, all hope,
Slumber, all desire!
I have lost my sight,
All memories fail
Of good and evil …
Oh dismal tale!
I am a cradle
Rocked by a hand
In a hollow vault:
Silence, silence!
Un grand sommeil noir
French source:
Paul Verlaine
A vast dark sleep
English source:
Richard Stokes
Un grand sommeil noir
A vast dark sleep
Tombe sur ma vie:
Falls on my life:
Dormez, tout espoir,
Slumber, all hope,
Dormez, toute envie!
Slumber, all desire!
Je ne vois plus rien,
I have lost my sight,
Je perds la mémoire
All memories fail
Du mal et du bien …
Of good and evil …
Ô la triste histoire!
Oh dismal tale!
Je suis un berceau
I am a cradle
Qu’une main balance
Rocked by a hand
Au creux d’un caveau:
In a hollow vault:
Silence, silence!
Silence, silence!
Composer
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel was a French composer, pianist and conductor. In the 1920s and 1930s he was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer. He was one of the first composers to acknowledge the potential of recording in making…
Poet
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry. Born in Metz, Verlaine was educated at the Lycée Impérial…