Резултати претраге

Rain over Paris

It's raining over Paris,
over the Seine and Saint-Louis island.
 
Over Notre-Dame and the Cité island1,
over the empty avenues
and over the sleepy squares.
It's raining over Paris.
 
What do I care anyway?
Not matter how much wind and rain,
the river will still flow
to the sea2 anyway.
 
Rain drips down my neck
and now I'm shivering.
I would like to feel a hand,
a man's hand on my neck.
 
But it's raining over Paris
over the river Seine and Saint-Louis island.
 
And I'm off to drown
under the rain
the strange nostalgia
of kisses and caresses.
 
that3's unclenching my teeth
and prying my knees apart.
Is it you I await?
Or is it a stranger?4
 
No, it's just the rain
over the Seine and Saint-Louis island.
 

• 1. one of the two small islands in the center of Paris
• 2. French distinguishes rivers that end in other rivers (rivières) from those that end up in the sea (fleuves)
• 3. The French pronoun could refer to the nostalgia of the previous stanza (the nostalgia that is unclenching...) or the man she speaks to (who is unclenching... ?).
  I suppose the ambiguity is deliberate
• 4. switching from the intimate 'tu' to the formal 'vous' implies she refers to a stranger instead of her lover

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So tell me

And yet1 you did feel like laughing
And yet your heart was indeed pounding
and had so much to say through your eyes,
as you were the colour of wind.
But from sand to dunes, from autums to rains,
the star-crossed hero ran away,
and your frail teenage years went with him.
 
And yet you did feel like living
And yet your heart was indeed pounding
when they showed you lofty words in the books
that bring down walls and turn children old.
But the children are dead and the guns rusted,
the paths are abandonned
and already the grass
closed in on the stone.
 
And yet you did feel like laughing
And yet your heart was indeed pounding
and had so much to say through your eyes,
that you really could have done a bit better.
So tell me, what did you do with so many seasons?
Your gardens are cavalierly
ripping your heart apart
flogging it with thistles.
 

• 1. 'dites-moi' literally means 'tell me' but can be used as an emphasis

This translation does not claim to be of any particular value.
Glad if you liked it, sorry if you didn't.
You can reuse it as you please.
Glad if it's for knowledge or understanding, sorry if it's just for money or fame.