Sicilienne is a short setting of a French poem by Francois Joseph Mery. The accompaniment figures are rollicking, galloping, and energetic, and the sensuous, climbing vocal line sings of the images of a summer's night. The moon, the sea, the flowers, the waves, and the gaiety of the people at the seashore, all are part of the experience of the poet. Almost in passing, the voice leaps up to the top of its register, then continues on its way as if nothing had occurred. The final line answers those previous, with a falling motion set in gentle roulades that begins at the same upper note, then cascades downwards to the bottom of the vocal register.

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