La Mouche-à-feu / Lightning Bug (verse)

Le jour tombe et s’efface

Va, monte, redescends,

Vole, passe et repasse,

Sans cesse dans l’espace.

Etoile voyageuse,

Petite mouche-à-feu,

Si vive et si joyeuse,

A l’œil suave et bleu.

De parterre en parterre,

A feu de tes éclairs,

Va toujours solitaire,

Quêter avec mystère

Les parfums les plus chers.

Sous la haie odorante,

C’est la belle-de-nuit

A la robe brillante,

Qui s’ouvre chatoyante

A la lune qui luit.

Vole, brille et bourdonne,

Emplis-toi des senteurs

Que la brise te donne ;

Car la nuit se couronne,

D’étoile et de fleurs.

Poem by Ignace Nau

The sun sets and fades

Leaves, rises, descends,

Flies, passes, and pervades,

Never-ending space promenades.

Traveling star,

Little lightning bug,

So lively and happy you are,

Looking blue and snug.

Flowerbeds a-hopping,

Aglow with your lightning,

Solitarily wondering,

Mysteriously seeking

Perfumes most enriching.

Beneath the fragrant shrubbery,

The four o’clocks of June*

With a gown of luxury,

Which opens so shimmery

To the gleaming moon.

Shine, buzz, and fly down,

Fill yourself with the odors

Of the breeze that is around;

Because the night wears a crown,

Of stars and flowers.

*Translator Note: "Belle-de-nuit" or "four o'clock" flowers open in the late afternoon.

Translated by Emeline Frix, 2022