Centre for Romanian Studies

Poetry in Translation (CCXXVIII): Maurice MAETERLINCK, (1862-1949), BELGIUM, “Heures ternes ”, “Stagnant hours ”, “Ore amorţite”

Maurice Count MAETERLINCK

Heures ternes
(Maurice Maeterlinck)

Voici d’anciens désirs qui passent,
Encor des songes de lassés,
Encor des rêves qui se lassent;
Voilà les jours d’espoir passés!

En qui faut-il fuir aujourd’hui?
Il n’y a plus d’étoile aucune;
Mais de la glace sur l’ennui
Et des linges bleus sur la lune.

Encor des sanglots pris au piège,
Voyez les malades sans feu,
Et les agneaux brouter la neige;
Ayez pitié de tout, mon Dieu!

Moi, j’attends un peu de réveil,
Moi, j’attends que le sommeil passe,
Moi, j’attends un peu de soleil
Sur mes mains que la lune glace!

Stagnant hours
(Maurice Maeterlinck)

Ere are the old desires that pass,
The dreams of weary men, that die,
The dreams that faint and fail, alas!
And there the days of hope gone by!

Where to fly shall we find a place?
Never a star shines late or soon:
Weariness only with frozen face,
And sheets of blue in the icy moon.

Behold the fireless sick, and lo!
The sobbing victims of the snare!
Lambs whose pasture is only snow!
Pity them all, O Lord, my prayer!

For me, I wait the awakening call:
I pray that slumber leave me soon.
I wait until the sunlight fall
On hands yet frozen by the moon.

English version
by Bernard MIALL

Ore amorţite
(Maurice Maeterlinck)

Aici sunt doruri ce se-ntrec
Prin gânduri de bătrâni ce mor
Cu alte visuri, care trec
În zile lungi, tânjind de dor.

Unde-om afla vre-un cer senin,
Când nu vom mai găsi cumva
În cale, spre un nou destin
A infinitului, vre-o stea?

În hohot sună valea toată
De victime abandonate,
Ca miei sacrificaţi de soartă…
Ai milă Doamne de păcate!

Doar eu aştept când ziua trece
Să mă trezesc din somn odată,
Ca să adăst in noaptea rece,
Să îmi îngheţe fiinţa toată.

Romanian version by:
Constantin ROMAN, London,
© 2013, Copyright Constantin ROMAN

SHORT BIO: Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Count Maeterlinck was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was a Fleming, but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911.

The main themes in his work are death and the meaning of life. His plays form an important part of the Symbolist movement.