There is a French poet - Jacques Prevert - whom I have liked for a long time.
I especially appreciate his haiku-like simplicity, cinematographic imagery and
tender playfulness.
I was actually looking for his poem Barbara but I came upon and remembered
two other beautiful short poems.
Paris at Night
Trois allumettes une à une allumées dans la nuit
La premiére pour voir ton visage tout entier
La seconde pour voir tes yeux
La dernière pour voir ta bouche
Et l'obscuritè tout entière pour me rappeler tout cela
En te serrant dans mes bras.
(Translation)
Three matches one by one struck in the night
The first to see your face in it's entirety
The second to see your eyes
The last to see your mouth
And the darkness all around to remind me of all these
As I hold you in my arms.
__
If I was a film director I would keep this image for a beginning of a film. I can
even hear the sound of the match stick.
Stormy Sky from Our Terrace
Alicante
Une orange sur la table
Ta robe sur le tapis
Et toi dans mon lit
Doux présent de la présent
Fraîcheur de la nuit
Chaleur de ma vie
Still Life with Oranges, Jacques Oudry
(Translation)
An orange upon the table
Your dress on the rug
And you in my bed
Sweet present of the present
Freshness of the night
Warmth of my life.
_
If I was a painter I would design a picture: a table with an orange, a carpet
and a dress on it.
Jacque Prevert by Robert DoineauHow I would like to have a chat with him!
Pour Toi Mon Amour
Je suis alle au marche aux oiseaux
Et j'ai achete des oiseaux
Pour toi
mon amour
Je suis alle au marche aux fleurs
Et j'ai achete des fleurs
Pour toi
mon amour
Je suis alle au marche a la ferraille
Et j'ai achete des chaines
De lourdes chaines
Pour toi
mon amour
Et puis je suis alle au marche aux esclaves
Et je t'ai cherchee
Mais je ne t'ai pas trouvee
mon amour
_
And the last one is the coolest: he keeps looking for his love at different
places: the bird market and the flower market. At the end he goes to the
slave market and he doesn't find her there. What a cool way to say that what he
loves most about her is her freedom.
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9 comments:
Ruslan - hi there
you are quite the romantic.
I love the simplicity and succinctness of the poems too. There is more room for the imagination to play with the images.
The view from your terrace is very moody.. a great shot
Thanks for the treats today. I am going to look up your poet.
Happy Days
Thank you for another lesson in literature/poetry.
I am going to look for more by him too!
The sky rolling with clouds in your picture...awesome!
I so enjoyed your post this morning. I adore that match poem and the images are so lovely. I love to escape into these different worlds for a few moments each day. It is such a treat to live in this time and beable to 'visit' people from all ovér the world. Thank you.
Delightful poetry! Thank you. And I love the Doineau photo.
Thank you so much for introducing us to his poetry, it's wonderful, simple and beautiful. I'll look for more of Prevert's poems
i always find myself saying that i'm a not a poetry person, but...that second one with the oranges is marvelous. maybe i can become a poetry person.
I second that, Julochka. I think I will have to become a poetry person under Ruslan's influence...
Like Julochka and Jelica, I don't consider myself a poetry person, but these poems are so simple and beautiful! I'm going to look him up! Thanks!
Thank you for these treats!
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