By Arthur Rimbaud
Famous French poet Arthur Rimbaud wrote Le Dormeur du Val when he was just 16, possibly based on his very real experiences of travel across France during the Franco-Prussian War
Le Dormeur du Val
C’est un trou de verdure où chante une rivière
Accrochant follement aux herbes des haillons
D’argent; où le soleil de la montagne fière,
Luit; C’est un petit val qui mousse de rayons.
Un soldat jeune bouche ouverte, tête nue,
Et la nuque baignant dans le frais cresson bleu,
Dort; il est étendu dans l’herbe, sous la nue,
Pale dans son lit vert où la lumière pleut.
Les pieds dans les glaïeuls, il dort. Souriant comme
Sourirait un enfant malade, il fait un somme:
Nature, berce-le chaudement: il a froid.
Les parfums ne font plus frissonner sa narine;
Il dort dans le soleil, la main sur sa poitrine
Tranquille. Il a deux trous rouges au coté droit.
The Sleeper in the Valley
It is a green hollow where a stream gurgles,
Crazily snagging its silver tatters on the grasses;
Where the sun shines from the proud mountain:
It is a little valley bubbling over with light.
A young soldier, open-mouthed, bare-headed,
With the nape of his neck bathed in cool blue cress,
Sleeps; he is stretched out on the grass, under the sky,
Pale on his green bed where the light falls like rain.
His feet in the yellow flags, he lies sleeping. Smiling as
A sick child might smile, he is having a nap:
Cradle him warmly, Nature: he is cold.
No scent makes his nostrils quiver;
He sleeps in the sun, his hand on his breast
At peace. There are two red holes in his right side.
I was always very much into Arthur Rimbaud during my youth to the point that my first trip to Europe was a pilgrimage to Charleville, hitch hiking from Paris, summer of 1978. However I was not aware of this beautiful poem “Le Dormeur du Val’
It reveals another phase in Rimbaudś life, an existential one..
Very interesting .
I read and learn a lot of unknown Things.
Thanks