Poem
Yves Bonnefoy
NOLI ME TANGERE
The flake hesitates in the blue skyOnce again, the last flake of the big snow.
And it’s as though she who must surely have imagined
What could be would enter the garden,
That look, that simple god, without remembering
The tomb, without any thought but happiness,
Without any future
Except its dispersal in the blue of the world.
‘No, don’t touch me,’ he would say to her,
But even to say no would shed light.
© Translation: 2007, Sarah Lawson
NOLI ME TANGERE
In de wederom blauwe hemel draalt de vlok,De laatste vlok van de grote sneeuw.
En het is alsof zij de tuin betreedt, zij
Die wel had moeten dromen wie die blik kon zijn,
Die eenvoudige god, zonder herinnering
Aan het graf, zonder andere gedachte dan het geluk,
Zonder andere toekomst
Dan op te gaan in het blauw van de wereld.
‘Neen, raak me niet aan,’ zou hij tegen haar zeggen,
Maar ook dit neen zou licht zijn.
© Vertaling: 2007, Jan H. Mysjkin
NOLI ME TANGERE
Hésite le flocon dans le ciel bleuA nouveau, le dernier flocon de la grande neige.
Et c’est comme entrerait au jardin celle qui
Avait bien du rêver ce qui pourrait être,
Ce regard, ce dieu simple, sans souvenir
Du tombeau, sans pensée que le bonheur,
Sans avenir
Que sa dissipation dans le bleu du monde.
‘Non, ne me touche pas’, lui dirait-il,
Mais même dire non serait de lumière.
© 1988, Yves Bonnefoy
From: Début et fin de la neige
Publisher: Mercure de France, Paris
From: Début et fin de la neige
Publisher: Mercure de France, Paris
Poems
Poems of Yves Bonnefoy
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NOLI ME TANGERE
The flake hesitates in the blue skyOnce again, the last flake of the big snow.
And it’s as though she who must surely have imagined
What could be would enter the garden,
That look, that simple god, without remembering
The tomb, without any thought but happiness,
Without any future
Except its dispersal in the blue of the world.
‘No, don’t touch me,’ he would say to her,
But even to say no would shed light.
© 2007, Sarah Lawson
From: Début et fin de la neige
From: Début et fin de la neige
NOLI ME TANGERE
The flake hesitates in the blue skyOnce again, the last flake of the big snow.
And it’s as though she who must surely have imagined
What could be would enter the garden,
That look, that simple god, without remembering
The tomb, without any thought but happiness,
Without any future
Except its dispersal in the blue of the world.
‘No, don’t touch me,’ he would say to her,
But even to say no would shed light.
© 2007, Sarah Lawson
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