En des visions de la sombre nuit, j'ai
bien rêvé de joie défunte, _ mais voici qu'un
rêve tout éveillé de vie et de lumière m'a
laissé le cœur brisé.
Ah! qu'est-ce qui n'est pas un rêve
le jour, pour celui dont les yeux portent sur
les choses d'alentour un éclat retourné au
passé?
Ce rêve béni, ce rêve béni, pendant que
le monde entier grondait, m'a réjoui comme
un rayon cher guidant un esprit solitaire.
Oui, quoique cette lumière, dans l'orage
et la nuit, tremblât comme de loin, que
pourrait-il y avoir, brillant avec plus de
pureté, sous l'astre du jour de Vérité!
In visions of the dark night, how I
dreamed of the bygone happiness _ but now
a dream, stirring with life and light,
has left me with a broken heart.
Ah! What is not a dream
by day, for him whose eyes impart upon
the things about him a brilliance born of
the past?
This blessed dream, this blessed dream, whilst
the whole world rumbled, delighted me like
a dear ray leading a lonely spirit.
Yes, though this light, through the storm
and the night, trembled as if from afar, what
could there be, shining with greater
purity, beneath the star of the day of Truth!
© translated by Christopher Goldsack
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