" Clair de lune " (French for "Moonlight") is a poem written by French poet Paul Verlaine in 1869. It is the inspiration for the third and most famous movement of Claude Debussy 's 1890 Suite bergamasque.

The poem Claire de lune by Paul Verlaine consists of three stanzas where the poet takes the readers through a journey where he gets in touch with his soul, with the hopes of finding himself. Translated to English, the name of the poem means “Moonlight”.

‘Clair de lune’ is a poem that juxtaposes two compelling visions of the soul, where jubilation and beauty hide a gloaming sadness. According to the poem, the soul is a fixed landscape upon which a “sad and lovely” (9) moonlight shines.

The title means ‘Moonlight’ and the piece is actually part of the four-movement work Suite Bergamasque. ‘Clair de lune’ takes its title from an atmospheric poem by the French poet Paul Verlaine which depicts the soul as somewhere full of music ‘in a minor key’ where birds are inspired to sing by the ‘sad and beautiful’ light of the moon.