Authorpoesiedumonde

The Lonely Walk

T

To W.S.B. When the grey evening spreads a calm around,   Tell me, has thy bewilder’d fancy sought, Retir’d in some sequestered spot of ground,   Rest, from the labour of eternal thought? When, wrapt in self, the soul enjoys repose,   The wearied brain resigns its fervent heat, In dream-like musing every care we lose,   And wind our way with slowly-moving feet. Oft, to indulge the...

I’m waiting…

I

I’m waiting by my log-fire while the hours gently wander, while the stars all are roaming and nights come and go. I’m waiting for a woman who comes from far yonder – the dearest one, the dearest one with blue eyes aglow. I thought of a roaming and snow-covered flower and dreamt of a teasing laugh trembling and slight, Imagined my dearest came here to my bower through the forest, over moorland one...

Guillaume Apollinaire: ‘Rhénane d’automne’ (English translation)

G

Rhenish autumn To Toussaint-Luca The children of the dead come and play In the cemetery Martin Gertrude Hans and Henri No cockerel has crowed today Adoodleday The old women Walk along slowly with tearful faces And the good-natured donkeys Bray hee-haw and start guzzling the flowers Of the funeral wreaths It’s the day of the dead and of all their souls The children and the old women Light their...

Jamais

J

Jamais, avez-vous dit, tandis qu’autour de nous Résonnait de Schubert la plaintive musique; Jamais, avez-vous dit, tandis que, malgré vous, Brillait de vos grands yeux l’azur mélancolique. Jamais, répétiez-vous, pâle et d’un air si doux Qu’on eût cru voir sourire une médaille antique. Mais des trésors secrets l’instinct fier et pudique Vous couvrit de rougeur, comme...

The Wind Whistles

T

The wind whistles on all sides, Scrapes the wood, breaks the branches! With all the force of its flight Sweeping across, rushing over the world. Whistling a song – to the horizon! About the courageous fighter who fights For his whole life For an idea, for his principles. May this hope always follow him: That, when death overcomes him, New fighters will appear Take up his flag, Whistling a song...

What Do We Plant?

W

What do we plant when we plant the tree? We plant the ship, which will cross the sea. We plant the mast to carry the sails; We plant the planks to withstand the gales – The keel, the keelson, the beam, the knee; We plant the ship when we plant the tree. What do we plant when we plant the tree? We plant the houses for you and me. We plant the rafters, the shingles, the floors, We plant the...

La servante au grand coeur

L

La servante au grand coeur dont vous étiez jalouse, Et qui dort son sommeil sous une humble pelouse, Nous devrions pourtant lui porter quelques fleurs. Les morts, les pauvres morts, ont de grandes douleurs, Et quand Octobre souffle, émondeur des vieux arbres, Son vent mélancolique à l’entour de leurs marbres, Certe, ils doivent trouver les vivants bien ingrats, A dormir, comme ils font...

My Heart Leaps Up

M

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
William Wordsworth – 1770-1850

Paroles sur la dune.

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Maintenant que mon temps décroît comme un flambeau, Que mes tâches sont terminées ; Maintenant que voici que je touche au tombeau Par les deuils et par les années, Et qu’au fond de ce ciel que mon essor rêva, Je vois fuir, vers l’ombre entraînées, Comme le tourbillon du passé qui s’en va, Tant de belles heures sonnées ; Maintenant que je dis : – Un jour, nous triomphons ; Le lendemain, tout...