Poem
Claude Esteban
AND MAYBE ALL WAS WRITTEN
And maybe all was written in the bookbut the book got lost
or someone threw it in the brambles
without reading it
no matter, that which was written
abides, even
hidden, another who has not lived
through all that
and without knowing the book’s language, will understand
each word
and when he has read it, something
of ours will yield
a breath, a kind of smile between the stones.
© Translation: 2000, John Montague
ET PEUT-ETRE QUE…
ET PEUT-ETRE QUE…
Et peut-être que tout était écrit dans le livremais le livre s’est perdu
ou quelqu’un l’a jeté dans les ronces
sans le lire
n’importe ce qui fut écrit
demeure, même
obscur, un autre qui n’a pas vécu
tout cela
et sans connaître la langue du livre, comprendra
chaque mot
et quand il aura lu, quelque chose
de nous se lèvera
un souffle, une sorte de sourire entre les pierres.
© 2001, Claude Esteban
From: Sur la dernière lande
Publisher: Gallimard, Paris
From: Sur la dernière lande
Publisher: Gallimard, Paris
Poems
Poems of Claude Esteban
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AND MAYBE ALL WAS WRITTEN
And maybe all was written in the bookbut the book got lost
or someone threw it in the brambles
without reading it
no matter, that which was written
abides, even
hidden, another who has not lived
through all that
and without knowing the book’s language, will understand
each word
and when he has read it, something
of ours will yield
a breath, a kind of smile between the stones.
© 2000, John Montague
From: Sur la dernière lande
From: Sur la dernière lande
AND MAYBE ALL WAS WRITTEN
And maybe all was written in the bookbut the book got lost
or someone threw it in the brambles
without reading it
no matter, that which was written
abides, even
hidden, another who has not lived
through all that
and without knowing the book’s language, will understand
each word
and when he has read it, something
of ours will yield
a breath, a kind of smile between the stones.
© 2000, John Montague
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