Les comptines

Au clair de la lune: the French words, translated line by line

Au clair de la lune means by the light of the moon. In the song, someone whose candle has gone out knocks at Pierrot's door to borrow a pen. Pierrot, already in bed, sends them next door. It's slow, gentle and made for bedtime.

Au clair de la lune

Verse 1

  • Au clair de la lune, By the light of the moon,
  • Mon ami Pierrot, my friend Pierrot,
  • Prête-moi ta plume lend me your pen
  • Pour écrire un mot. so I can write a word.
  • Ma chandelle est morte, My candle has gone out,
  • Je n'ai plus de feu. I have no light left.
  • Ouvre-moi ta porte Open your door to me
  • Pour l'amour de Dieu. for the love of God.

Verse 2

  • Au clair de la lune, By the light of the moon,
  • Pierrot répondit : Pierrot replied:
  • Je n'ai pas de plume, I haven't got a pen,
  • Je suis dans mon lit. I'm in my bed.
  • Va chez la voisine, Go to the neighbour's,
  • Je crois qu'elle y est, I think she's in,
  • Car dans sa cuisine because in her kitchen
  • On bat le briquet. someone's striking a light.

Borrow these at bedtime

  • Regarde la lune. Look at the moon. Say it ruh-GARD la LOON (u with rounded lips)
  • La lune brille. The moon is shining. Say it la LOON BREE-yuh
  • Bonne nuit, la lune. Good night, moon. Say it bon NWEE, la LOON

Who is Pierrot?

Pierrot is a sad, moon-faced clown from old French theatre, all in white. In the song he’s just a neighbour who would rather stay under the covers.

A song in the oldest recording

In 1860, the French inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville recorded a few seconds of Au clair de la lune on his phonautograph, a machine that drew sound as a wavy line on paper. Nobody heard it until 2008, when researchers turned the line back into sound. It’s often called the oldest recording of a human voice that you can recognise.

How to sing it with a toddler

Slowly. Point at the moon on la lune, mime writing on écrire un mot, and blow out a pretend candle on ma chandelle est morte.

One thing to do tonight

If the moon is out, open the curtain at bedtime and say Regarde la lune. Then sing the first four lines.

Where it lives in your day Le Dodo · Bedtime in French The ten sentences that turn lights-out into French, every single night

Free bedtime script

Moon up, lights out

Sing it, then the Le Dodo script carries you through the last ten minutes of the day.

Ten bedtime phrases, each with a say-it guide, on one page for the bedroom door.

Three emails over your first week to get bedtime started, and you can leave whenever you like.

Questions parents ask

What does au clair de la lune mean?

By the light of the moon.

What is the story of Au clair de la lune?

Someone whose candle has gone out asks Pierrot to lend a pen. Pierrot, in bed, sends them to the neighbour's, where there's a light.

Who is Pierrot?

A sad, moon-faced clown from old French theatre, dressed in white. In the song he's simply a neighbour who'd rather stay in bed.

Who wrote Au clair de la lune?

Nobody knows. It's a traditional French song, sung since at least the 1700s.

Keep going

All the songs and rhymes →

Updated 16 October 2026