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.

Ce soir, à travers le bonheur,
Qui donc soupire, qu’est-ce qui pleure?
Qu’est-ce qui vient palpiter sur mon coeur,
Comme un oiseau blessé?

Est-ce une voix future,
Une voix du passé?
J’écoute, jusqu’à la souffrance,
Ce son dans le silence.

Île d’oubli, ô Paradis!
Quel cri déchire, dans la nuit,
Ta voix qui me berce?
Quel cri traverse
Ta ceinture de fleurs,
Et ton beau voile d’allégresse?

Charles Van Lerberghe

This evening, through the happiness
Who is it sighing? What is that weeping?
What is it that comes quivering on my heart
Like a wounded bird?

Is it a voice of the future,
A voice of the past?
I listen, until it hurts,
To this sound in the silence.

Oh, isle of forgetfulness, Oh Paradise,
What cry is it that rips through, in the night,
Your voice which lulls me?
What cry is cutting through
Your girdle of flowers
And your beautiful veil of joy?