✕
The Sea
The sea,
That we see dancing
Along the clear gulfs
Has silver reflections (has reflections of silver).
The sea,
The reflections,
Change beneath the rain.
The sea,
Of the summer sky,
Confuses its (her) white sheep
With the angels, so pure.
The sea,
Sheperd (shepherdess),
Of the infinite azure.
See,
Near the ponds,
Its (her) grand (tall) wet reeds.*
See,
Its (her) white birds
And its (her) rusted houses.
The sea,
Has rocked them
Along the clear golfs,
And to a song of love (a love song),
The sea
Has rocked my heart
All of my life.**
Notes:
*I might be stretching, but I wonder if “roseaux moulliés” has two meanings here.
- First, the literal, “wet reeds,” as in the long grass.
- Second, a reference to reed instruments (such as the clarinet); the reeds must be wet to be played. Though he sings “voyez (see),” not “hear,” he later sings, “et d’une chanson d’amour (a love song),” which could be referring to the sounds and songs of the reeds and the birds. (More poetic, I think.)
**It’s unclear if the phrase “And to a song of love, the sea has rocked my heart all of my life” means that the sea rocked both the reeds and his heart or just his heart. Punctuation makes a difference, and the punctuation differs between versions. Also, punctuation use sometimes differs between French and English. Obviously, it’s open to interpretation, but I think it’s just his heart.
jamescalm
David Ephraim✕
Translations of "La mer"
Translations of covers
Comments
Russia is waging a disgraceful war on Ukraine. Stand With Ukraine!
About translator
A more literal translation. I’ve also capitalized the first letter in each line, as it would be in English lyrics, using my best guess as to where lines should be broken. Also, since English doesn’t use gender with (most) words, I’ve used the standard non-gender form but added the gender form in parenthese since I think it capture an important aspect of the translation.
This version is not as poetic as the original, but I hope helpful to some.