Friday, March 6, 2009

Cheap and Cheerful

I am back at my French class and I am enjoying the poems, poetry can be hard to understand at the best of times but at least it gets you thinking. I have attempted to translate a French poem, I hope it makes some sense!

The Secret

On the country lane close to the wood,
I found a treasure,
A nut shell,
A golden grasshopper,
A rainbow had died.

Noone said anything,
In my hand encased
I keep it closed,
Closed like a strangler,
From Monday to Saturday.

On Sunday I reopened it,
But there was nothing there anymore,
And I talked with a dog,
Laying in his green kennel,
That I had sorrow,

He said without barking,
This night you are going to dream,
Of the night that was so black,
I believed in the story,
And all was lost.

But in an instance I saw well,
A ship in the sky,
Trailed by a grasshopper
On the waves of a rainbow.

Le Secret

Sur le chemin près du bois
Jai trouvé un trésor
Une coquille de noix
Une sauterelle en or
Un arc-en-ciel qu'était mort

À personne je n'ai rien dit
Dans ma main je les ai pris
Et je l'ai tenue fermée
Fermée jusqu'à l'ètrangler
Du lundi au samedi

Le dimanche l'ai rouverte
Mais il n'y avait plus rien!
Et j'ai raconté au chien
Couché dans sa niche verte
Comme j'avais du chagrin

Il m'dit sans aboyer,
Cette nuit, tu vas rêver.
La nuit, il faisait si noir,
Que j'ai cru à une histoire
Et que tout était perdu.

Mais d'un seul coup j'ai bien vu,
Un navire dans le ciel
Traîné par une sauterelle
Sur des vagues d'arc-en-ciel!

So are there golden grasshoppers at the end of the rainbows in France, no I dont think so, but then who ever found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow in England? I dont have a pot of gold but here are some golden sunflowers, at the wheelbarrow race last year. Hope your pots are not empty, if they are find something nice to put in them. Maybe some Daffodils, cheap and cheerful.

Golden Brouette

The French word for golden colour is doré.

The French word for empty is vide.

12 comments:

Jude said...

Beautiful poem, well done for translating it.
I adore sunflowers.
I've replied to your question on my blog.................
Med Diet is good,not just because of the sun, they eat in a different way to how I used to eat in England, small meals, based on fresh veg, very little meat.

Henry the Dog said...

I don't understand poetry unless it is VERY simple, so I preferred the french version, that I didn't understand AT ALL but it sounded better in my view, very melodic. Lovely photo. Sunflowers -my mums favourite flower.

Anonymous said...

A gold star to you for your translation. Thank goodness it ended happily!

J Cosmo Newbery said...

Well done. Understanding a poem is difficult sometimes; taking it and its meaning across the language barrier doubly so.

French Fancy... said...

Well done on the translation. I'm a funny person about poetry. I only really like poetry that rhymes. I adore Shelley, Byron, Browning, Christina Rossetti and occasional modern poets like Wendy Cope.

Gosh, I'm such a prig sometimes.

Blu said...

Small meals sounds like a good idea but I may eat to many of them.

I like very simple poetry too.

A gold star how lovely.

I am enjoying trying to cross the barriers.

Poetry that rhymes, always feels good.

bindu said...

Interesting poem. I don't know any French, so couldn't read the original. Pretty sunflowers!

ArtPropelled said...

Lovely poem ...especially the last verse.

Blu said...

I will see what my teacher thinks of my efforts next Thursday.

John said...

Hi Blu
Liked reading your blog and also picking up some useful french. We also love sunflowers. They hold a special memory for us....the last holiday we had with Erin was in a rented house near Carcassonne and there was a field of sunflowers right outside her bedroom window. She would sit on the sill reading....
I'm following your blog now

DAB said...

A lovely poem and a beautiful image. Tres Bien (translated to very good) ;-) TFx

Anonymous said...

I love this poem !