TRANSLATING LE PONT

René-Guy Cadou was born in Brittany in 1920.  During his short poetic life – he died in 1951 - he dedicated himself to what he saw as the simple values of rural culture, childhood & the land. 

For all the simplicity of his language, both Anna & I – independently translating his poem Le Pont – struggled with our renditions.  I’m posting both versions beneath Cadou’s original.  Our fetching modesty concerning our efforts extends to the hope that someone will – tenderly & tactfully – set us right where we might have strayed.

le pont

la pluie rayait le paysage
à l'oblique
sur le pont arqué comme l'amour
la bourrasque bousculait
les parapluies empresses
qui tachaient les couleurs
de la rivière grise

pluie obstinée
à séparer les deux rives
paresseux, se mouiller
pourquoi faire
sa lampe
déjà éteinte

Rene-Guy Cadou

the bridge

in a landscape striped
by slanting rain
on a bridge arching
as lovers do
gusts grabbed
at eager umbrellas
staining colours
into the steely river

rain determined to disjoin
the two opposing shores
more liquid still
shiftless
and pointless
for its light is already dimmed

Anna Scott

the bridge

the angular rain
obscured the landscape
over the bridge
arched like a lover
the wind hustled
the bustling umbrellas
that sprinkled colours
over the river’s grey

stubborn rain
separating the two inert
sodden banks
seeking out a light
already quenched

Dick Jones