Spoon River Anthology — Page 14

English → Fr Full Text Level 4/10

Their spirits looked upon my torture;

Leurs esprits contemplaient mon supplice ;

They drank it as it were the water of life;

Ils le buvaient comme si c'était l'eau de la vie ;

With reddened cheeks, brightened eyes,

Les joues rougies, les yeux brillants,

The rising flame of my soul made their spirits gilt,

La flamme montante de mon âme dorait leurs esprits,

Like the wings of a butterfly drifting suddenly into sunlight.

Comme les ailes d'un papillon dérivant soudain dans la lumière du soleil.

And they cried to me for life, life, life.

Et ils me réclamaient la vie, la vie, la vie.

But in taking life for myself,

Mais en prenant la vie pour moi-même,

In seizing and crushing their souls,

En saisissant et en écrasant leurs âmes,

As a child crushes grapes and drinks

Comme un enfant écrase des raisins et boit

From its palms the purple juice,

Dans ses paumes le jus pourpre,

I came to this wingless void,

Je suis parvenu à ce vide sans ailes,

Where neither red, nor gold, nor wine,

Où ni le rouge, ni l'or, ni le vin,

Nor the rhythm of life are known.

Ni le rythme de la vie ne sont connus.

Minerva Jones

I am Minerva, the village poetess,

Je suis Minerva, la poétesse du village,

Hooted at, jeered at by the Yahoos of the street

Huée, raillée par les Yahoos de la rue

For my heavy body, cock-eye, and rolling walk,

Pour mon corps lourd, mon œil de travers et ma démarche chaloupée,

And all the more when "Butch" Weldy

Et bien plus encore quand « Butch » Weldy

Captured me after a brutal hunt.

Me captura après une chasse brutale.

He left me to my fate with Doctor Meyers;

Il me laissa à mon sort avec le docteur Meyers ;

And I sank into death, growing numb from the feet up,

Et je sombrai dans la mort, m'engourdissant des pieds jusqu'en haut,

Like one stepping deeper and deeper into a stream of ice.

Comme quelqu'un qui s'enfonce de plus en plus dans un courant de glace.

Will some one go to the village newspaper,

Quelqu'un voudra-t-il bien aller au journal du village,

And gather into a book the verses I wrote?—

Et rassembler en un livre les vers que j'ai écrits ?

I thirsted so for love

J'avais tant soif d'amour

I hungered so for life!

J'avais tant faim de vie !

"Indignation" Jones

« Indignation » Jones

You would not believe, would you

Vous ne croiriez pas, n'est-ce pas,

That I came from good Welsh stock?

Que je suis issu d'une bonne souche galloise ?

That I was purer blooded than the white trash here?

Que j'avais le sang plus pur que la racaille blanche d'ici ?

And of more direct lineage than the

Et d'une lignée plus directe que les

New Englanders And Virginians of Spoon River?

Habitants de la Nouvelle-Angleterre et les Virginiens de Spoon River ?

You would not believe that I had been to school

Vous ne croiriez pas que j'étais allé à l'école

And read some books.

Et que j'avais lu quelques livres.

Vocabulary

Leurs: Their; possessive pronoun referring to multiple people.
esprits: Spirits; minds or supernatural beings.
contemplaient: Contemplated; looked at thoughtfully or observed.
mon: My; first-person singular possessive adjective.
supplice: Torment; extreme suffering or torture.
Ils: They; third-person plural masculine pronoun.
le: The; definite article or direct object pronoun.
buvaient: Drank; consumed liquid beverages.
comme: Like; as; used for comparisons.
si: If; conditional conjunction.
était: Was; past tense of être.
eau: Water; the essential liquid for life.
de: Of; from; preposition indicating possession or origin.
la: The; feminine definite article.
vie: Life; existence or living beings.
Les: The; plural definite article.
joues: Cheeks; sides of the face below eyes.
yeux: Eyes; organs of sight.
brillants: Shining; bright or gleaming.
La: The; feminine singular definite article.
flamme: Flame; fire or passion.
âme: Soul; spiritual essence of a being.
ailes: Wings; appendages for flight.
un: A; an; indefinite article.
papillon: Butterfly; colorful flying insect.
soudain: Sudden; occurring unexpectedly or abruptly.
dans: In; inside or within.
lumière: Light; illumination or brightness.
du: Of the; contraction of de and le.
soleil: Sun; celestial body providing heat and light.
Et: And; conjunction joining words or phrases.
me: Me; first-person singular object pronoun.
Mais: But; conjunction indicating contrast.
en: In; on; or as pronoun of place.
prenant: Taking; seizing or grasping.
pour: For; in favor of or toward.
moi: Me; first-person singular pronoun.
même: Same; identical or oneself.
enfant: Child; young human being.
des: Of the; plural partitive article.
raisins: Grapes; small round fruit of vine.
boit: Drinks; consumes liquid beverages.
paumes: Palms; inner surface of hands.
jus: Juice; liquid extracted from fruits.
pourpre: Purple; reddish-blue color or dye.
Je: I; first-person singular subject pronoun.
suis: Am; present tense of être.
parvenu: Arrived; reached or succeeded in achieving.
ce: This; that; demonstrative pronoun or adjective.
vide: Empty; vacant space or void.
sans: Without; lacking or deprived of.
où: Where; in or to what place.
ni: Nor; and not; negative conjunction.
rouge: Red; color of blood or fire.
or: Gold; precious yellow metal.
vin: Wine; alcoholic beverage from grapes.
rythme: Rhythm; pattern of beats in music.
ne: Not; negation particle in French.
sont: Are; plural form of to be.
connus: Known; recognized or familiar.

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