Le regret de la terre
(Jules Supervielle, 1884-1960)
One day we’ll look back on it the time of the sun
when light fell on the smallest twig
on the old woman the astonished girl
when it washed with colour everything it touched
followed the galloping horse and eased when he did
that unforgettable time on earth
when if we dropped something it made a noise
and like connoisseurs we took in the world
our ears caught every nuance of air
and we knew our friends by their footsteps
time we walked out to gather flowers or stones
that time we could never catch hold of a cloud
and it’s all our hands can master now
translation by The Flat Cap
1 comment:
Great stuff Peter. Must get hold of some more of his work. Fabulous last line! I've no idea how close a translation this is but it reads fluently. Are you working on a book of his poems?
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