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Inspired by poetry: "Ploughing mountainsides" » English to French » Entry by Philippe Morgan de Rivery


Source text in English

Translation by Philippe Morgan de Rivery (#30142)

The Beginning

All in a moment, years ago,
The boy I was became a man:
Suddenly my life began!
I saw the world before me— So
That ploughman by his horses stands
Sweating on the first hill's brow,
Having left the riverlands
Furrowed in the vale below,
And sees a mountainside to plough,
Barren rock to blunt his share,
Thunder hanging in the air,
And the black peak above him, bare,
Waiting now.
—Let him plough it if he dare!
Commencement

Soudain, il y a longtemps,
L'enfant que j'étais se fit homme.
Soudain, ce fut le commencement !
Mes yeux s'ouvrirent au monde - Ainsi
Peine le laboureur au côté des chevaux
Avançant au versant de leur première colline,
Loin du cours d'eau d'hier en contrebas enfoui
Dans le sillon d'une vallée profonde.
Voilà plus haut le flanc abrupt à la charrue,
Dont le roc dénudé émoussera le soc.
Dans l'air couvant l'orage,
Dressé nu devant lui, un pic noir,
Attend et semble dire :
- Laboure-moi, si tu as le courage !


Discuss this entry


Discussion about Inspired by poetry: "Ploughing mountainsides" in English to French - Entry #30142
Rosalie Blythe
Rosalie Blythe
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:44
Member (2020)
French to English
+ ...
It flows like poetry..... Aug 13, 2020

The line "attend et semble dire is dramatic and concise". "Laboure-moi si tu as le courage" is one example of all the clever rhymes throughout.
"attend et semble dire" is good because there's a full stop after "le soc" in the French. Therefore the last 6 lines are devoted to describing "the black peak"
The commas in the English is a way of writing poetry while the French reaches a resounding finish with the formidable colour of black.

"Dans le sillon d'une vallee profonde" ... See more
The line "attend et semble dire is dramatic and concise". "Laboure-moi si tu as le courage" is one example of all the clever rhymes throughout.
"attend et semble dire" is good because there's a full stop after "le soc" in the French. Therefore the last 6 lines are devoted to describing "the black peak"
The commas in the English is a way of writing poetry while the French reaches a resounding finish with the formidable colour of black.

"Dans le sillon d'une vallee profonde" is another beautiful line. ▲ Collapse
 

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