Sunday, November 13, 2005

Sylvestre

SYLVESTRE:
FROM THE FRENCH OF TISANE TASSANI


When I drink from the sap of the tall evergreen
And I feel the cool Earth enter my veins
In gratitude – what can this gratefulness be?
And who for, but for the being of the tree?
The woodlands where I walk are so green,
With so many species of bird and animal
That in awe I draw back from all explanation
And drink from my five senses, as from a well.

I have no flock to care for – I am a woodlander
In five-hundred year old thickets & unfathomable glades
No congregation or pastor joins me here
And there are no young folk to go on promenades:
Then, let me give to each perfectly formed leaf my blessing
That together we make the sweetest murmuring.


________________________

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Unlike the glamorous blogging queen, I am not offering you the chance to make tons of money. As a leading authority on Tisane,however, I must congratulate you on the scholarly manner in which you have adapted what is arguably Tisane's greatest lyric poem. Tilleul had a go, but not being a native English speaker he missed out on some of the inflections underlying the sentiments.

I do think the final result is a great achievement in itself, and stands alone very well without the support of Tisane.

tristan said...

i was ignorant of tisane until you so sweetly carpeted my path with his flowers