Un cygne
French source:
Rainer Maria Rilke
tout entouré de lui-même,
comme un glissant tableau;
ainsi à certains instants
un être que l’on aime
est tout un espace mouvant.
Il se rapproche, doublé,
comme ce cygne qui nage,
sur notre âme troublé …
qui à cet être ajoute
la tremblante image
de bonheur et de doute.
A swan
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
ringed all around by itself,
like a painting that glides;
thus, at certain moments,
a being that one loves
is a whole moving space.
It draws near, bent double,
like the drifting swan,
over our troubled soul …
adding to that being
the trembling image
of happiness and doubt.
Translation © Richard Stokes author of A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Un cygne
French source:
Rainer Maria Rilke
A swan
English source:
Richard Stokes
Un cygne avance sur l’eau
A swan moves over the water
tout entouré de lui-même,
ringed all around by itself,
comme un glissant tableau;
like a painting that glides;
ainsi à certains instants
thus, at certain moments,
un être que l’on aime
a being that one loves
est tout un espace mouvant.
is a whole moving space.
Il se rapproche, doublé,
It draws near, bent double,
comme ce cygne qui nage,
like the drifting swan,
sur notre âme troublé …
over our troubled soul …
qui à cet être ajoute
adding to that being
la tremblante image
the trembling image
de bonheur et de doute.
of happiness and doubt.
Composer
Poet
Rainer Maria Rilke
René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist. He is "widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets".He…