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this is an impossible poem to translate, but i have a few comments, since i have done a translation of this poem (without having looked at any translations before doing so). i feel 'amours' and 'races' amd 'blow by blow' are not in line with the original. and the 'i endure' implies the i is like a rock, impervious to time, whereas the original, to me at least, implies more the feeling of still being left there, of remaining.it is also hard to read 'time past returns/Nor love again' and understand the meaning.

here is my attempt - interesting that many of the rhymes, and quite a few of the words, are the same:

The Mirabeau bridge

Under the Mirabeau bridge flows the Seine
		And all our loves
	Why does it make so plain
That any joy must always follow pain
 
	Let the night come the hour sound clear
	The days all pass I’m still here
 
Our hands intertwined let’s stay face to face
		While far below
	The bridge of our arms strays
The languid wave of each endless gaze

	Let the night come the hour sound clear
	The days all pass I’m still here
 
Our love drifts away like these waters flow
		Love drifts away
	And our lives are so slow
With Hope more violent than we could know
 
	Let the night come the hour sound clear
	The days all pass I’m still here.
 
The days and weeks pass in a ceaseless train
		But no past time 
	Or past love comes again
Under the Mirabeau bridge flows the Seine
 
	Let the night come the hour sound clear
	The days all pass I’m still here.

for more information, see: http://www.johnirons.com

Hello,

Thanks for your translation. Can we publish it under a free licence (CC-BY or CC-BY-SA or GFDL)? In that case, we would copy it to http://en.wikisource.org Regards, Yann 6 mars 2007 à 11:03 (EST)