Eternal Feminine Series - Featured Work

Holmès – Featured Work

Le ruban rose

text: Augusta Holmès (1847–1903)
translation: Suzanne Yeo

Celui que j’aime est si mignon
Que les femmes en sont marries;
Il n’a ni chasses et prairies;
Pas même le moindre pignon!
He whom I love is so pretty
That he blends in with the ladies;
He has neither hunting grounds nor meadows;
Not even the simplest roof!
Il est de très bonne noblesse,
Et plus brave que ses aieux!
Il est jaloux, un rien le blesse!
Ses étoiles, ce sont mes yeux.
He comes from a very noble family,
And is braver than his ancestors!
He is jealous, the slightest thing wounds him!
His stars are my eyes.
Et puis, c’est un charmant visage
Fier et tendre, bien à mon gré.
Il ressemble à l’Amour poudré!
C’est pourquoi j’en ai fait mon page!
And what’s more, he has a charming face,
Proud and tender, just to my taste.
He looks like a powdered Cupid!
That’s why I made him my page!
J’étais en grand habit de Cour,
Fard et mouches, satins, dentelle;
Celui pour qui je me fais belle,
A mes genoux parlait d’amour.
I was in a grand court dress,
All made up, with my moles and rouge, satins and lace;
He for whom I dolled myself up
Was speaking of love at my knees.
Et mon collier de ruban rose,
Je ne sais comment, s’envola!
Il faut cueilli, comme une Rose
Par le Prince qui passait là!
And my choker of pink ribbon,
I don’t know how, but it flew away!
It was plucked, like a rose,
By the Prince who was passing by!
“Voici votre ruban, Madame;
Reprenez-le contre un baiser!
Gardez-vous bien de refuser:
En ce cas votre amant rend l’âme.”
“Here is your ribbon, My Lady;
Take it back for a kiss!
Be careful not to refuse,
If you do, your lover may give up his soul.”
Mon jeune ami, plein de fureur,
Dit: “Madame n’est point en cause!
Il m’appartient, ce ruban rose,
Et je vous tuerai, Monseigneur!”
My young friend, full of rage,
Said: “Madame is not in question!
It belongs to me, this pink ribbon,
And I will kill you, My Lord!”
Et je le vis, au clair de Lune,
Si joli pendant le combat,
Qu’il fut choisi par la Fortune
Pour que le Prince succombat!
And I saw him, in the moonlight,
So handsome during the fight,
That he was chosen by Fate,
So that the Prince succumbed!
“Il faut me consoler, Marquise,”
Dit mon page, triste à demi;
“J’ai tué mon meilleur ami!”
C’est pourquoi je lui fus exquise!
“You have to console me, Marquise,”
My page said, half-sadly;
“I have killed my best friend!”
And that’s why I was so delightful to him!

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