Spoon River Anthology — Page 7

English → Fr Full Text Level 4/10

While I lived I could not cope with slanderous tongues,

De mon vivant je ne pouvais faire face aux langues calomnieuses,

Now that I am dead I must submit to an epitaph

Maintenant que je suis mort je dois me soumettre à une épitaphe

Graven by a fool!

Gravée par un imbécile !

Serepta Mason

My life's blossom might have bloomed on all sides

La fleur de ma vie aurait pu s'épanouir de tous côtés

Save for a bitter wind which stunted my petals

N'eût été un vent amer qui rabougrit mes pétales

On the side of me which you in the village could see.

Du côté de moi que vous, au village, pouviez voir.

From the dust I lift a voice of protest:

De la poussière j'élève une voix de protestation :

My flowering side you never saw!

Mon côté en fleurs, vous ne l'avez jamais vu !

Ye living ones, ye are fools indeed

Vous, les vivants, vous êtes vraiment des insensés

Who do not know the ways of the wind

Qui ne connaissez pas les voies du vent

And the unseen forces

Et les forces invisibles

That govern the processes of life.

Qui gouvernent les processus de la vie.

Amanda Barker

Henry got me with child,

Henry me rendit enceinte,

Knowing that I could not bring forth life

Sachant que je ne pouvais donner la vie

Without losing my own.

Sans perdre la mienne.

In my youth therefore I entered the portals of dust.

Dans ma jeunesse j'entrai donc dans les portails de la poussière.

Traveler, it is believed in the village where I lived

Voyageur, on croit dans le village où je vécus

That Henry loved me with a husband's love

Qu'Henry m'aimait d'un amour de mari

But I proclaim from the dust

Mais je proclame depuis la poussière

That he slew me to gratify his hatred.

Qu'il m'a tuée pour assouvir sa haine.

Constance Hately

You praise my self-sacrifice, Spoon River,

Vous louez mon abnégation, Spoon River,

In rearing Irene and Mary,

Pour avoir élevé Irène et Marie,

Orphans of my older sister!

Orphelines de ma sœur aînée !

And you censure Irene and Mary

Et vous blâmez Irène et Marie

For their contempt for me!

Pour leur mépris à mon égard !

But praise not my self-sacrifice.

Mais ne louez pas mon abnégation.

And censure not their contempt;

Et ne blâmez pas leur mépris ;

I reared them, I cared for them, true enough!—

Je les ai élevées, je les ai soignées, certes !—

But I poisoned my benefactions

Mais j'ai empoisonné mes bienfaits

With constant reminders of their dependence.

Par de constants rappels de leur dépendance.

Chase Henry

In life I was the town drunkard;

De mon vivant j'étais l'ivrogne du village ;

When I died the priest denied me burial

Quand je mourus le prêtre me refusa la sépulture

In holy ground.

En terre sainte.

The which redounded to my good fortune.

Ce qui tourna à mon avantage.

Vocabulary

De: Preposition meaning 'of' or 'from' in French.
mon: Possessive adjective meaning 'my' (masculine singular).
vivant: Adjective or noun meaning 'living' or 'alive'.
je: First-person singular subject pronoun meaning 'I'.
ne: Negation particle used with 'pas' or alone.
pouvais: Imperfect form of 'pouvoir,' meaning 'could' or 'was able'.
faire: Infinitive verb meaning 'to do' or 'to make'.
face: Noun meaning 'face'; faire face means 'to face'.
aux: Contracted preposition meaning 'to the' or 'of the' (plural).
langues: Noun meaning 'tongues' or 'languages'.
calomnieuses: Adjective meaning 'slanderous' or 'defamatory' (feminine plural).
Maintenant: Adverb meaning 'now' or 'at present'.
que: Conjunction or pronoun meaning 'that,' 'which,' or 'than'.
suis: First-person singular of 'être,' meaning 'am'.
mort: Adjective or noun meaning 'dead' or 'death'.
dois: First-person singular of 'devoir,' meaning 'must' or 'owe'.
me: Reflexive or object pronoun meaning 'me' or 'myself'.
soumettre: Infinitive meaning 'to submit' or 'to yield'.
à: Preposition meaning 'to,' 'at,' or 'in'.
une: Indefinite article meaning 'a' or 'an' (feminine).
épitaphe: Noun meaning 'epitaph,' inscription on a tombstone.
Gravée: Past participle of 'graver,' meaning 'engraved' or 'carved'.
par: Preposition meaning 'by' or 'through'.
imbécile: Noun or adjective meaning 'fool,' 'idiot,' or 'stupid'.
fleur: Noun meaning 'flower' or 'blossom'.
vie: Noun meaning 'life'.
aurait: Conditional form of 'avoir,' meaning 'would have'.
pu: Past participle of 'pouvoir,' meaning 'been able to'.
s': Reflexive pronoun (elided 'se') used before a vowel.
épanouir: Infinitive meaning 'to bloom,' 'to blossom,' or 'to flourish'.
tous: Adjective or pronoun meaning 'all' or 'every' (masculine plural).
côtés: Noun meaning 'sides' or 'aspects'; de tous côtés means 'on all sides'.
N': Elided negation particle 'ne' before a vowel.
eût: Imperfect subjunctive of 'avoir,' meaning 'had' (literary).
été: Past participle of 'être,' meaning 'been'; also noun for 'summer'.
vent: Noun meaning 'wind'.
amer: Adjective meaning 'bitter' or 'harsh'.
rabougrit: Verb meaning 'stunts,' 'shrivels,' or 'dwarfs' (growth).
mes: Possessive adjective meaning 'my' (plural).
pétales: Noun meaning 'petals' of a flower.
Du: Contracted article meaning 'of the' or 'from the' (masculine).
côté: Noun meaning 'side' or 'direction'.
vous: Second-person pronoun meaning 'you' (formal or plural).
village: Noun meaning 'village' or 'small town'.
pouviez: Imperfect second-person plural of 'pouvoir,' meaning 'could'.
voir: Infinitive meaning 'to see'.
poussière: Noun meaning 'dust' or 'powder'.
j': Elided first-person pronoun 'je' before a vowel.
élève: Verb meaning 'raises' or 'lifts'; noun meaning 'student'.
voix: Noun meaning 'voice' or 'vote'.
protestation: Noun meaning 'protest' or 'objection'.
en: Preposition or pronoun meaning 'in,' 'of it,' or 'some'.
fleurs: Noun meaning 'flowers' or 'blossoms' (plural).
l': Elided definite article 'le' or 'la' before a vowel.
avez: Second-person plural of 'avoir,' meaning 'have'.
jamais: Adverb meaning 'never' or 'ever'.
vu: Past participle of 'voir,' meaning 'seen'.
les: Definite article or object pronoun meaning 'the' or 'them' (plural).
vivants: Noun or adjective meaning 'the living' or 'living people'.
êtes: Second-person plural of 'être,' meaning 'are'.
vraiment: Adverb meaning 'truly,' 'really,' or 'indeed'.
insensés: Adjective meaning 'senseless,' 'foolish,' or 'mad' (plural).
Qui: Relative or interrogative pronoun meaning 'who' or 'which'.
connaissez: Second-person plural of 'connaître,' meaning 'know' (people/things).
pas: Negation particle meaning 'not'; also noun for 'step'.
voies: Noun meaning 'ways,' 'paths,' or 'routes' (plural).
Et: Conjunction meaning 'and'.
forces: Noun meaning 'forces,' 'strengths,' or 'powers' (plural).
invisibles: Adjective meaning 'invisible' or 'unseen' (plural).
gouvernent: Verb meaning 'govern' or 'control' (third-person plural).
processus: Noun meaning 'process' or 'progression'.
rendit: Simple past of 'rendre,' meaning 'made' or 'rendered'.
enceinte: Adjective meaning 'pregnant'; noun for 'enclosure'.
Sachant: Present participle of 'savoir,' meaning 'knowing'.
donner: Infinitive meaning 'to give'.
Sans: Preposition meaning 'without'.
perdre: Infinitive meaning 'to lose'.
mienne: Possessive pronoun meaning 'mine' (feminine singular).
Dans: Preposition meaning 'in,' 'inside,' or 'within'.
jeunesse: Noun meaning 'youth' or 'young people'.
entrai: Simple past of 'entrer,' meaning 'entered'.
donc: Conjunction meaning 'therefore,' 'so,' or 'thus'.
portails: Noun meaning 'portals,' 'gateways,' or 'main doors'.
Voyageur: Noun meaning 'traveler' or 'wayfarer'.
on: Indefinite pronoun meaning 'one,' 'we,' or 'people'.
croit: Third-person singular of 'croire,' meaning 'believes'.
le: Definite article or pronoun meaning 'the' or 'him/it'.
où: Relative or interrogative adverb meaning 'where' or 'when'.
vécus: Simple past of 'vivre,' meaning 'lived' (first-person singular).
Qu': Elided conjunction 'que,' meaning 'that' or 'than'.
m': Elided first-person object pronoun meaning 'me' or 'myself'.
aimait: Imperfect of 'aimer,' meaning 'loved' or 'liked'.
d': Elided preposition 'de' meaning 'of' or 'from'.
amour: Noun meaning 'love' or 'affection'.
mari: Noun meaning 'husband'.
Mais: Conjunction meaning 'but' or 'however'.
proclame: Verb meaning 'proclaims' or 'declares' (first/third-person singular).
depuis: Preposition or adverb meaning 'since' or 'for' (time).
il: Third-person masculine pronoun meaning 'he' or 'it'.
tuée: Past participle of 'tuer,' meaning 'killed' (feminine).
pour: Preposition meaning 'for,' 'in order to,' or 'because of'.
assouvir: Infinitive meaning 'to satisfy,' 'to appease,' or 'to satiate'.
sa: Possessive adjective meaning 'his,' 'her,' or 'its' (feminine noun).
haine: Noun meaning 'hatred' or 'hate'.
louez: Imperative or present of 'louer,' meaning 'praise' or 'rent'.
abnégation: Noun meaning 'self-denial,' 'selflessness,' or 'abnegation'.
Pour: Preposition meaning 'for' or 'in order to'.
avoir: Infinitive meaning 'to have'; auxiliary verb in compound tenses.
élevé: Past participle of 'élever,' meaning 'raised' or 'brought up'.
Orphelines: Noun or adjective meaning 'orphans' or 'orphaned' (feminine plural).
sœur: Noun meaning 'sister'.
aînée: Adjective or noun meaning 'eldest' or 'older' (feminine).
blâmez: Imperative or present of 'blâmer,' meaning 'blame'.
leur: Pronoun or adjective meaning 'their' or 'them'.
mépris: Noun meaning 'contempt,' 'scorn,' or 'disdain'.
égard: Noun meaning 'regard,' 'respect,' or 'consideration'; à mon égard means 'toward me'.
Je: First-person singular subject pronoun meaning 'I'.
ai: First-person singular of 'avoir,' meaning 'have'.
élevées: Past participle of 'élever,' meaning 'raised' (feminine plural).
soignées: Past participle of 'soigner,' meaning 'cared for' or 'nursed' (feminine plural).
certes: Adverb meaning 'certainly,' 'indeed,' or 'admittedly'.
empoisonné: Past participle of 'empoisonner,' meaning 'poisoned' or 'tainted'.
bienfaits: Noun meaning 'benefits,' 'kindnesses,' or 'good deeds' (plural).
constants: Adjective meaning 'constant,' 'continuous,' or 'persistent' (plural).
rappels: Noun meaning 'reminders,' 'recalls,' or 'references' (plural).
dépendance: Noun meaning 'dependence,' 'dependency,' or 'addiction'.
étais: Imperfect first or second person of 'être,' meaning 'was' or 'were'.
ivrogne: Noun meaning 'drunkard' or 'drunk'.
Quand: Conjunction or adverb meaning 'when'.
mourus: Simple past of 'mourir,' meaning 'died' (first-person singular).
prêtre: Noun meaning 'priest'.
refusa: Simple past of 'refuser,' meaning 'refused'.
sépulture: Noun meaning 'burial,' 'sepulture,' or 'interment'.
En: Preposition meaning 'in,' 'on,' or 'while'; also pronoun.
terre: Noun meaning 'earth,' 'land,' or 'ground'.
sainte: Adjective meaning 'holy' or 'sacred' (feminine); noun 'saint'.
Ce: Demonstrative pronoun or adjective meaning 'this,' 'that,' or 'it'.
tourna: Simple past of 'tourner,' meaning 'turned' or 'went'.
avantage: Noun meaning 'advantage,' 'benefit,' or 'gain'.

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