13/02/2010

021. "In Nature's Praise"

Gustave Courbet

Traduction anglaise du poème : "Offrande à la Nature"
Voir message N° 13 en cliquant ici.

Deep-hearted Nature, supporting the heavens,
None more than I will have so ardently loved
The light of days and the sweetness of things,
The shimmering water and the nurturing earth.

The woods, ponds, and fertile plains
Have touched my eyes more than human gazes.
I have leaned upon the beauty of the world
And my hands have held the seasons' fragrances.

I have worn your suns like a crown
On my noble and simple brow,
My games have matched the labors of fall,
And I have wept with love in your summers' arms.

I have come to you without fear or prudence,
Giving you my reason for good and evil,
Embracing as my only joy and knowledge
Your impetuous soul with animal cunning.

Like an open flower for nesting bees
My life has distilled balms and songs,
And like a basket my morning heart
Offers you ivy and pliant boughs.

Yielding like water reflecting the trees
I have known the burning desires of your nights,
Which arouse in the hearts of men and beasts
Beautiful impatience and divine will.

Nature, my arms enfold you all alive,
Ah ! must my eyes fill with darkness some day,
And must I go to the land without wind or color
Where light and love will never meet...

The Innumerable Heart (1901)
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Traduction par C. Perry : http://www.nd.edu/~cperry/literary_interests/coeur.html
Source de l'illustration : http://www.artinthepicture.com/paintings/Gustave_Courbet/Sunset-on-Lake-Leman
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