The Light, Changed ** La Lumière, Changée

 

Love Vandal, silkscreen print edition.  Nick Walker (other details not known).  Chelsea Market, New York

 

 

 

La Lumière, Changée   

The Light, Changed

 

Yves Bonnefoy, 1923-2016, French

Translated by John Naughton

 

 

 

Love Goes On, silk screen print, handfinished. Nick Walker.  Other details not known. Chelsea Market, New York

 

 

Nous ne nous voyons plus dans la même lumière,

We no longer see each other in the same light,

Nous n’avons plus les mêmes yeux, les mêmes mains.

We no longer have the same eyes, the same hands.

L’arbre est plus proche et la voix des sources plus vive,

The tree is closer, and the water’s voice more lively,

Nos pas sont plus profonds, parmi les morts.

Our steps go deeper now, among the dead.

 

 

 

 

As Above

 

 

Dieu qui n’es pas, pose ta main sur notre épaule,

God, who are not, put your hand on our shoulder

Ébauche notre corps du poids de ton retour,

Rough cast our body with the weight of your return,

Achève de mêler à nos âmes ces astres,

Finish blending our souls with these stars

Ces bois, ces cris d’oiseaux, ces ombres et ces jours.

These woods, these bird cries, these shadows and these days.

 

 

 

As Above

 

 

 

Renonce-toi en nous comme un fruit se déchire,

Give yourself up in us (in) the way fruit tears apart,

Efface-nous en toi. 

Have us disappear in you.

 

 

 

                                     Découvre-nous

                                     Reveal to us

Le sens mystérieux de ce qui n’est que simple

The mysterious meaning in what is merely simple

Et fût tombé sans feu dans des mots sans amour.

And would have fallen without fire in words without love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 thoughts on “The Light, Changed ** La Lumière, Changée

    1. As much trouble as I made when a child to be made to learn languages when my little friends were out playing, how glad I am now! French so different from English and so precise!

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