Four poems from
One Hundred and One Poems
by Paul Verlaine
A Bilingual Edition
Translated by Norman R. Shapiro
Published by the University of Chicago Press Copyright notice
Nevermore
Allons, mon pauvre coeur, allons, mon vieux complice, Pousse à Dieu ton cantique, ô chantre rajeuni; Sonnez, grelots; sonnez, clochettes; sonnez, cloches! Le Bonheur a marché côte à côte avec moi; From Poèmes saturniens (1866) |
Nevermore
Come, my poor heart, come, old friend true and tried, Cantor revivified, sing God your hymn; Ring, bells; peal, chimes; peal, ring, bells large and small! Happiness once walked side by side with me; |
Clair de lune
Votre âme est un paysage choisi Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur Au calme clair de lune triste et beau, From Fêtes galantes (1869) |
Moonlight
Your soul is like a landscape fantasy, Singing in minor mode of life's largesse The calm, pale moonlight, whose sad beauty, beaming, |
"Il pleure dans mon coeur . . . "
II pleut doucement sur la ville. Il pleure dans mon coeur Ô bruit doux de la pluie Il pleure sans raison C'est bien la pire peine From Romances sans paroles (1874) |
"Like city's rain, my heart . . ."
The rain falls gently on the town. Like city's rain, my heart Gentle, the sound of rain Tears rain-but who knows why?- And nothing pains me so-- |
À Charles Baudelaire
Je ne t'ai pas connu, je ne t'ai pas aimé, C'est que, d'abord, et c'est qu'ailleurs, vers les Pieds joints Tu tombas, tu prias, comme moi, comme toutes --Calvaire juste et vrai, Calvaire où, donc, ces doutes, From Liturgies intimes (1892) |
For Charles Baudelaire
I do not know you now, or like you, nor It's that we both have known the exquisite You fell, you prayed. And so did I, like all --Calvary, righteous, where--here, there--our fall, |
Copyright notice: Excerpted from One Hundred and One Poems by Paul Verlaine translated by Norman R. Shapiro, published by the University of Chicago Press. ©1999 by the University of Chicago. All rights reserved. This text may be used and shared in accordance with the fair-use provisions of U.S. copyright law, and it may be archived and redistributed in electronic form, provided that this entire notice, including copyright information, is carried and provided that the University of Chicago Press is notified and no fee is charged for access. Archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text on other terms, in any medium, requires the consent of both the author and the University of Chicago Press.
One Hundred and One Poems by Paul Verlaine
A Bilingual Edition
Translated by Norman R. Shapiro
©1998, 310 pages, 18 halftones
Cloth $25.00 ISBN: 0-226-85344-6
Paper $15.00 ISBN: 0-226-85345-4
For information on purchasing the book--from bookstores or here online--please go to the webpage for One Hundred and One Poems by Paul Verlaine.
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