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.

Un grand sommeil noir

Tombe sur ma vie:

Dormez, tout espoir,

Dormez, toute envie!

Je ne vois plus rien,

Je perds la mémoire

Du mal et du bien . . .

O la triste histoire!

Je suis un berceau

Qu'une main balance

Au creux d'un caveau:

Silence, silence!

Paul Verlaine

A deep black sleep

Descends upon my life:

Sleep, all hope,

Sleep, all desire!

I can no longer see anything,

I am losing my remembrance

Of the bad and the good . . .

Oh, the sad story!

I am a cradle

That is rocked by a hand

In the depth of a vault.

Silence, silence!