The English version presented below is a literal, word-for-word translation. It attempts to preserve the poet's word order as far as possible, for a better appreciation of the composer's musical treatment of individual words and phrases. Download track from iTunes.

L’hiver a cessé: la lumière est tiède
Et danse, du sol au firmament clair.
Il faut que le coeur le plus triste cède
À l’immense joie éparse dans l’air.

J’ai depuis un an le printemps dans l’âme
Et le vert retour du doux floréal,
Ainsi qu’une flamme entoure une flamme,
Met de l’idéal sur mon idéal.

Le ciel bleu prolonge, exhausse et couronne
L’immuable azur où rit mon amour
La saison est belle et ma part est bonne
Et tous mes espoirs ont enfin leur tour.

Que vienne l’été! que viennent encore
L’automne et l’hiver ! Et chaque saison
Me sera charmante, ô Toi que décore
Cette fantaisie et cette raison!

Paul Verlaine

Winter has ended: the light is warm
And dances from the ground up to the clear firmament.
The saddest heart must give way
To the great joy scattered through the air.

I have for the past year had springtime in my soul
And the green return of the sweet blossoming,
Just as a flame surrounds a flame,
Sets something ideal upon my ideal.

The blue sky prolongs, exalts and crowns
The changeless azure where my love laughs.
The season is lovely and my share is good
And all my hopes at last have their turn.

Let summer come! And let
Autumn and winter come after that! And every season
Will be dear to me, oh You who are adorned by
This fantasy and this reasonableness!