Spoon River Anthology — Page 9
Judge Somers
Le Juge Somers
How does it happen, tell me,
Comment se fait-il, dites-moi,
That I who was most erudite of lawyers,
Que moi qui fus le plus érudit des avocats,
Who knew Blackstone and Coke
Qui connaissais Blackstone et Coke
Almost by heart, who made the greatest speech
Presque par cœur, qui prononçai le plus grand discours
The court-house ever heard, and wrote
Que le tribunal ait jamais entendu, et rédigeai
A brief that won the praise of Justice Breese
Un mémoire qui valut les éloges du juge Breese
How does it happen, tell me,
Comment se fait-il, dites-moi,
That I lie here unmarked, forgotten,
Que je gise ici sans signe, oublié,
While Chase Henry, the town drunkard,
Tandis que Chase Henry, l'ivrogne du bourg,
Has a marble block, topped by an urn
A un bloc de marbre, surmonté d'une urne
Wherein Nature, in a mood ironical,
Où la Nature, dans une humeur ironique,
Has sown a flowering weed?
A semé une mauvaise herbe en fleur ?
Kinsey Keene
Kinsey Keene
Your attention, Thomas Rhodes, president of the bank;
Votre attention, Thomas Rhodes, président de la banque ;
Coolbaugh Whedon, editor of the Argus;
Coolbaugh Whedon, rédacteur en chef de l'Argus ;
Rev. Peet, pastor of the leading church;
Le révérend Peet, pasteur de la principale église ;
A. D. Blood, several times Mayor of Spoon River;
A. D. Blood, plusieurs fois maire de Spoon River ;
And finally all of you, members of the Social Purity Club—
Et enfin vous tous, membres du Club de la Pureté Sociale —
Your attention to Cambronne's dying words,
Votre attention aux dernières paroles de Cambronne,
Standing with the heroic remnant
Debout avec le reste héroïque
Of Napoleon's guard on Mount Saint Jean
De la garde de Napoléon sur le Mont Saint-Jean
At the battle field of Waterloo,
Sur le champ de bataille de Waterloo,
When Maitland, the Englishman, called to them:
Quand Maitland, l'Anglais, leur cria :
"Surrender, brave Frenchmen!"—
« Rendez-vous, braves Français ! » —
There at close of day with the battle hopelessly lost,
Là, au crépuscule, la bataille irrémédiablement perdue,
And hordes of men no longer the army
Et des hordes d'hommes qui n'étaient plus l'armée
Of the great Napoleon
Du grand Napoléon
Streamed from the field like ragged strips
Fuyaient le champ comme des lambeaux déchirés
Of thunder clouds in the storm.
De nuages d'orage dans la tempête.
Well, what Cambronne said to Maitland
Eh bien, ce que Cambronne dit à Maitland
Ere the English fire made smooth the brow of the hill
Avant que le feu anglais n'ait aplani le sommet de la colline
Against the sinking light of day
Dans la lumière déclinante du jour
Say I to you, and all of you,
Je vous le dis, à vous tous,
And to you, O world.
Et à toi, ô monde.
And I charge you to carve it
Et je vous enjoins de le graver
Upon my stone.
Sur ma pierre.
Vocabulary
- Juge
- zhüzh — A person who presides over a court of law
- Comment
- koh-mahn — Used to ask how something happens or works
- se
- suh — Reflexive pronoun meaning 'oneself' or 'himself/herself'
- fait
- feh — Third-person singular of 'faire'; means 'does' or 'makes'
- dites
- deet — Imperative or second-person plural of 'dire'; means 'tell' or 'say'
- moi
- mwah — Stressed first-person pronoun meaning 'me' or 'I'
- Que
- kuh — Conjunction or pronoun meaning 'that,' 'what,' or 'which'
- qui
- kee — Relative or interrogative pronoun meaning 'who' or 'which'
- fus
- fü — First-person singular simple past of 'être'; means 'was'
- plus
- plü — Adverb meaning 'more' or 'most' in comparisons
- érudit
- ay-rü-dee — Adjective meaning learned, scholarly, or deeply knowledgeable
- avocats
- ah-voh-kah — Plural noun meaning lawyers or attorneys in French
- Qui
- kee — Relative or interrogative pronoun meaning 'who' or 'which'
- connaissais
- koh-neh-seh — Imperfect tense of 'connaître'; means 'knew' or 'was familiar with'
- Presque
- presk — Adverb meaning 'almost' or 'nearly' something
- par
- par — Preposition meaning 'by,' 'through,' or 'per'
- cœur
- kuhr — Noun meaning 'heart'; also used in 'par cœur' meaning by memory
- prononçai
- proh-nohn-say — First-person simple past of 'prononcer'; means 'delivered' or 'pronounced'
- grand
- grahn — Adjective meaning great, large, or impressive in size
- discours
- dee-skoor — Noun meaning a speech or formal address given publicly
- tribunal
- tree-bü-nal — Noun meaning a court of law or judicial body
- ait
- ay — Subjunctive form of 'avoir'; means 'has' in subordinate clauses
- jamais
- zhah-meh — Adverb meaning 'never' or 'ever' in French sentences
- entendu
- ahn-tahn-dü — Past participle of 'entendre'; means 'heard' or 'understood'
- rédigeai
- ray-dee-zhay — First-person simple past of 'rédiger'; means 'drafted' or 'wrote up'
- mémoire
- may-mwahr — Noun meaning a written report, brief, or memoir
- valut
- vah-lü — Third-person simple past of 'valoir'; means 'earned' or 'was worth'
- éloges
- ay-lohzh — Noun meaning praises, tributes, or complimentary remarks
- juge
- zhüzh — Noun meaning a judge presiding over legal proceedings
- gise
- zheez — Archaic first-person singular of 'gésir'; means 'I lie here'
- ici
- ee-see — Adverb meaning 'here,' indicating a nearby location
- sans
- sahn — Preposition meaning 'without' in French sentences
- signe
- seen-yuh — Noun meaning a sign, mark, or symbol indicating something
- oublié
- oo-blee-ay — Past participle of 'oublier'; means 'forgotten' or 'neglected'
- Tandis
- tahn-dee — Conjunction used in 'tandis que' meaning 'while' or 'whereas'
- ivrogne
- eev-rohn-yuh — Noun or adjective meaning a drunkard or habitually intoxicated person
- bourg
- boor — Noun meaning a small market town or village
- bloc
- blok — Noun meaning a block, slab, or solid chunk of material
- marbre
- mar-bruh — Noun meaning marble, a hard stone used in monuments
- surmonté
- sür-mohn-tay — Past participle meaning topped or surmounted by something above
- urne
- ürn — Noun meaning an urn, often used in funerary or decorative contexts
- Où
- oo — Relative or interrogative adverb meaning 'where' or 'in which'
- Nature
- nah-tür — Noun meaning nature, the natural world or its forces
- dans
- dahn — Preposition meaning 'in' or 'inside' a place or time
- humeur
- ü-muhr — Noun meaning mood, humor, or a particular state of mind
- ironique
- ee-roh-neek — Adjective meaning ironic, expressing irony or sarcastic humor
- semé
- suh-may — Past participle of 'semer'; means 'sown' or 'scattered' upon
- mauvaise
- moh-vez — Feminine adjective meaning bad, poor, or unpleasant in quality
- herbe
- airb — Noun meaning grass or herb; plant growing in the ground
- fleur
- fluhr — Noun meaning a flower or blossom on a plant
- Votre
- voh-truh — Possessive adjective meaning 'your' in formal or plural usage
- attention
- ah-tahn-syohn — Noun meaning attention, care, or close notice of something
- président
- pray-zee-dahn — Noun meaning president or chairman of an organization
- banque
- bahnk — Noun meaning a bank, a financial institution for deposits
- rédacteur
- ray-dak-tuhr — Noun meaning editor or writer working for a publication
- chef
- shef — Noun meaning chief, head, or leader of a group
- révérend
- ray-vay-rahn — Noun or adjective meaning reverend, a title for clergy members
- pasteur
- pas-tuhr — Noun meaning pastor or Protestant minister of a congregation
- principale
- pran-see-pal — Feminine adjective meaning main, principal, or most important
- église
- ay-gleez — Noun meaning a church, a place of Christian worship
- plusieurs
- plü-zyuhr — Adjective or pronoun meaning several or multiple things
- fois
- fwah — Noun meaning 'time' or 'times' as in occurrences or instances
- maire
- mair — Noun meaning mayor, the elected head of a municipality
- enfin
- ahn-fan — Adverb meaning 'finally,' 'at last,' or 'in short'
- tous
- too — Masculine plural adjective or pronoun meaning 'all' or 'everyone'
- membres
- mahm-bruh — Noun meaning members of a group, club, or organization
- Club
- kloob — Noun meaning a club or association of people with shared interests
- Pureté
- pür-tay — Noun meaning purity, the state of being pure or untainted
- Sociale
- soh-syal — Feminine adjective meaning social, relating to society or community
- dernières
- dair-nyair — Feminine plural adjective meaning last, final, or most recent
- paroles
- pah-rol — Noun meaning words, lyrics, or spoken utterances
- Debout
- duh-boo — Adverb or adjective meaning standing upright or on one's feet
- avec
- ah-vek — Preposition meaning 'with,' indicating accompaniment or means
- reste
- rest — Noun meaning the remainder or what remains of something
- héroïque
- ay-roh-eek — Adjective meaning heroic, showing great bravery or courage
- garde
- gard — Noun meaning guard, protection, or a unit of guards
- sur
- sür — Preposition meaning 'on,' 'upon,' or 'over' a surface
- Mont
- mohn — Noun meaning mountain or mount, used in place names
- Saint
- san — Adjective or noun meaning saint or holy, often in place names
- champ
- shahn — Noun meaning field, open land, or battlefield
- bataille
- bah-tie — Noun meaning battle, a military conflict or fight
- Quand
- kahn — Conjunction or adverb meaning 'when,' indicating a point in time
- Anglais
- ahn-gleh — Noun or adjective meaning English, referring to people or language
- leur
- luhr — Possessive adjective or pronoun meaning 'their' or 'to them'
- cria
- kree-ah — Third-person simple past of 'crier'; means 'shouted' or 'cried out'
- Rendez
- rahn-day — Imperative of 'rendre'; means 'surrender' or 'give back'
- braves
- brahv — Adjective meaning brave or noun meaning brave soldiers
- Français
- frahn-seh — Noun or adjective meaning French people or the French language
- Là
- lah — Adverb meaning 'there,' indicating a place or situation
- crépuscule
- kray-püs-kül — Noun meaning twilight, the dim light after sunset
- irrémédiablement
- ee-ray-may-dyah-bluh-mahn — Adverb meaning irreparably or hopelessly, without possibility of remedy
- perdue
- pair-dü — Feminine past participle of 'perdre'; means 'lost' or 'defeated'
- hordes
- ord — Noun meaning hordes, large disorganized crowds or masses
- hommes
- om — Noun meaning men or human beings in the masculine plural
- étaient
- ay-teh — Third-person plural imperfect of 'être'; means 'were'
- armée
- ar-may — Noun meaning army, an organized military land force
- Fuyaient
- fwee-yeh — Third-person plural imperfect of 'fuir'; means 'were fleeing'
- comme
- kom — Conjunction or adverb meaning 'like,' 'as,' or 'such as'
- lambeaux
- lahm-boh — Noun meaning tatters, shreds, or torn pieces of material
- déchirés
- day-shee-ray — Past participle meaning torn, ripped, or shredded apart
- nuages
- nü-ahzh — Noun meaning clouds, formations of water vapor in the sky
- orage
- oh-rahzh — Noun meaning a thunderstorm or violent storm with rain
- tempête
- tahm-pet — Noun meaning a storm or tempest, a violent weather event
- Eh
- ay — Interjection meaning 'hey' or 'well,' used to attract attention
- bien
- byan — Adverb meaning 'well' or adjective meaning 'good'
- ce
- suh — Demonstrative pronoun or adjective meaning 'this' or 'it'
- dit
- dee — Third-person singular simple past of 'dire'; means 'said'
- Avant
- ah-vahn — Preposition or adverb meaning 'before' in time or order
- feu
- fuh — Noun meaning fire, flames, or gunfire in a battle context
- anglais
- ahn-gleh — Adjective meaning English, relating to England or its people
- aplani
- ah-plah-nee — Past participle of 'aplanir'; means 'leveled' or 'flattened' down
- sommet
- soh-meh — Noun meaning summit, top, or peak of a hill or mountain
- colline
- koh-leen — Noun meaning a hill, a gentle elevation of land
- lumière
- lü-myair — Noun meaning light, the illumination from the sun or a source
- déclinante
- day-klee-nahnt — Adjective meaning declining or fading, as in diminishing light
- jour
- zhoor — Noun meaning day, a 24-hour period or daylight hours
- dis
- dee — First-person simple past of 'dire'; means 'I said'
- toi
- twah — Stressed second-person singular pronoun meaning 'you'
- ô
- oh — Vocative interjection meaning 'O' used in solemn or poetic address
- monde
- mohnd — Noun meaning world or people; 'tout le monde' means everyone
- enjoins
- ahn-zhwan — First-person present of 'enjoindre'; means 'I order' or 'I command'
- graver
- grah-vay — Verb meaning to engrave or carve into a hard surface
- pierre
- pyair — Noun meaning stone or rock; also a common French given name
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