Tuesday, March 25, 2008

La Pluie Encore (Rain Again)



Il pleure dans mon coeur
Comme il pleut sur la ville
Quelle est cette langueur
Qui pénètre mon coeur?

Attendez donc l'après-midi pour vous prendre pour Verlaine. Jusque-là, le soleil fera un effort pour rendre cette journée moins mélancolique en dépit d'un thermomètre au bord de la dépression. Attention toutefois aux précipitations de la soirée, elles pourraient se transformer en neige qui tient au sol.



Only in France? The above weather forecast from Le Parisien (translated into English below with some help from Google tools) begins with a few lines from Paul Verlaine, a 19th century French poet, known for his dissolute lifestyle but ethereal imagery. Whatever it takes to get through another rainy day.

Translation:

It cries in my heart
As it rains on the city
What is this languor
That penetrates my heart?

Expect therefore the afternoon to take you to Verlaine. Until then, the sun will make an effort to make this day less melancholy despite a thermometer on the brink of depression. Attention, however, evening precipitation could turn into snow that sticks to the ground.

2 comments:

Rachel L said...

I love this entry! So great. Thanks for sharing, Anne.

Rachel

Anonymous said...

Who wrote the poem, broadcast by the BBC, signalling the D-Day invasions to the French resistance?
"Chanson d'automne" ("Autumn Song") is a poem by Paul Verlaine, one of the best known in the French language. It is included in Verlaine's first collection, Poemes saturniens (1866).
The first and second lines of the poem (Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne blessent mon coeur D'une langueur Monotone) were broadcast by the Allies in 1944 as a code message to the French Resistance in preparation for D-Day. When the second line was broadcast over the radio waves, it signaled that the invasion was to come in 24 hours. I love Paris in the rain, Anne! Thank you for this wonderful post. Maria O. Russell

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