Hi all,

This post is a bit different than the rest. I’ll be translating Roupen Sevag’s translation of Verlaine’s “Chanson d’automne”. For completeness, you can read Verlaine’s original below.

Chanson d’automne par Verlaine

Les sanglots longs

Des violons

De l’automne

Blessent mon coeur

D’une langueur

Monotone.

Tout suffocant

Et blême, quand

Sonne l’heure.

Je me souviens

Des jours anciens,

Et je pleure…

Et je m’en vais

Au vent mauvais

Qui m’emporte

De çà, de là,

Pareil à la

Feuille morte…

Now, this is Sevag’s translation into Western Armenian…

And this is my attempt to translate the Armenian version of the original French….

Autumn’s Song

Cradled by the incessant

Hum of violins

I let out a cry from deep

Within my heart.

When the hour strikes,

Horrid, evil, ill-timed –

I think of days past

And I weep.

And I continue along – silent –

At the whim of my past

Tossed here and there

Like an autumn leaf – drifting away.