COUVRE-FEU
Que voulez-vous la porte était gardée
Que voulez-vous nous étions enfermés
Que voulez-vous la rue était barrée
Que voulez-vous la ville était matée
Que voulez-vous elle était affamée
Que voulez-vous nous étions désarmés
Que voulez-vous la nuit était tombée
Que voulez-vous nous nous sommes aimés.
CURFEW
What did you expect the door was guarded
What did you expect we were locked in
What did you expect the street was barred
What did you expect the city was in check
What did you expect it was starving
What did you expect we were disarmed
What did you expect the night had fallen
What did you expect we were in love.
Translation by Lloyd Alexander
Photo credit: Tunnel of Love by idatewe
I wish I could listen on youtube to the audio-version of this suberb poem of Paul Éluard, the Couvre-Feu in French mothertongue. Is it exists somewhere?
Thanks, Tibor, and yes it’s on youtube.
Read beautifully by the late Gérard Philipe, in the first 40 seconds here: