To be as natural as a tree,
how it spreads its needs like layers of leaves,
and feels, through the peaceable night and the storm,
a universal sap flow through its hands.
To live with the sun’s rays on the face,
drink the burning salt of spray and of tears
and taste the warmth of joy and sadness
that makes a human-shaped mist in space.
To feel in the beating heart the air, the fire, the blood
whirl like wind over the earth:
— to grow toward reality and lean toward mystery,
to be the day that rises and the night that falls.
Like the evening purples to the colors of cherries
let the ruby heart cast flames and water,
and as the clear dawn presses on the hillside
be the dreaming soul that sits by the world.
La Vie Profonde (from Coeur Inombrable)
Être dans la nature ainsi qu’un arbre humain,
Étendre ses dêsirs comme un profond feuillage,
Et sentire, par la nuit paisible et par l’orage,
La sève universelle affluer dans ses mains.
Vivre, avoir les rayons du soleir sur la face,
Boire le sel ardent des embruns et des pleurs
Et goûter chaudement la joie et la douleur
Qui font une buée humaine dans l’espace.
Sentire dans son coeur vif l’air, le feu et le sang
Tourbillonner ainsi que le vent sur la terre:
— S’élever au réel et pencher au mystère,
Être le jour qui monte et l’ombre qui descend.
Comme du pourpre soir aux couleurs de cerise
Laisser du coeur vermeil couler la flamme et l’eau,
Et comme l’aube claire appuyée au coteau
Avoir l’âme qui rève, au bord du monde assise…
Anne de Noailles (1876-1933) (translation Marilyn McCabe)
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Anna de Noailles (1876-1933) was literary icon in France and Europe in the early 1900s, and the first woman who received membership as a commander of the French Legion of Honor. She also received the Grand Prix of Literature from the French Academy.
Marilyn McCabe’s poems and translations have been widely published and include two chapbooks and two full length collections of poems. Her videopoems have been featured in online journals, galleries, and international film festivals. She blogs about poetry on MarilynOnaRoll.wordpress.com and on her podcast Whirled Through a Poem’s Eye.
