LE PONT MIRABEAU	MIRABEAU BRIDGE
Guillaume Apollinaire	trans. James Kirkup
Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine ............Et nos amours .....Faut-il qu’il m’en souvienne La joie venait toujours après la peine ............Vienne la nuit sonne l’heure ............Les jours s’en vont je demeure Les mains dans les mains restons face à face ............Tandis que sous .....Le pont de nos bras passe Des éternels regards l’onde si lasse ............Vienne la nuit sonne l’heure ............Les jours s’en vont je demeure L’amour s’en va comme cette eau courante ............L’amour s’en va .....Comme la vie est lente Et comme l’Espérance est violente ............Vienne la nuit sonne l’heure ............Les jours s’en vont je demeure Passent les jours et passent les semaines ............Ni temps passé .....Ni les amours reviennent Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine ............Vienne la nuit sonne l’heure ............Les jours s’en vont je demeure	(tanka sequence with haiku refrain) The Seine keeps flowing under the Mirabeau Bridge - and our loves also - I need to remember that joy always follows sorrow. And when night's bell tolls the days take their departure - I alone remain Holding hand in hand, let us sit face to face while underneath the bridge of our arms pass eternal gazings on such weary waves. And when nights bell tolls the days take their departuure - I alone remain Love is flowing fast away, just as these flowing waters flow away slow as life itself flows by - how violent Hope becomes. And when the night's bell tolls the days take their departure - I alone remain The days passing by, the weeks passing by - and yet neither our past time nor our loves return - under Mirabeau Bridee flows the Seine - And when night s bell tolls the days take their departure - I alone remain

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Trans. copyright © James Kirkup 2004

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