Here’s a French poem called “Bonne Année” (Happy New Year) by Tristan Derème (1889-1941).
Below you’ll find an mp3 recording of the poem with the original French text and an English translation.
Bonne année
Par Tristan Derème
Voici la nouvelle année
Souriante, enrubannée,
Qui pour notre destinée,
Par le ciel nous est donnée :
C’est à minuit qu’elle est née.
Les ans naissent à minuit
L’un arrive, l’autre fuit.
Nouvel an ! Joie et bonheur !
Pourquoi ne suis-je sonneur
De cloches, carillonneur,
Pour mieux dire à tout le monde
À ceux qui voguent sur l’onde
Ou qui rient dans leurs maisons,
Tous les vœux que nous faisons
Pour eux, pour toute la Terre
Pour mes amis les enfants
Pour les chasseurs de panthères
Et les dompteurs d’éléphants.
English Translation:
Happy New Year
By Tristan Derème
Here comes the New Year
Beaming, beribboned,
Which, for our destiny,
Heaven gives us:
At midnight it was born.
The years are born at midnight
One arrives, the other flees.
New Year! Joy and happiness!
Why am I not the one who rings
The bells, the bell-ringer,
To better tell everyone,
To those who sail the waves
Or those who have fun in their homes,
All the wishes we make
For them, for the whole world
For my friends the children,
For the hunters of panthers
And the elephant tamers.
Translation by Monique Palomares and Lisa Yannucci.
Recording by Monique Palomares.
Bonne année !
Lisa and Monique
This article was posted on Thursday, December 28th, 2017 at 10:09 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, France, French, French Poems, Holidays Around the World, Languages, Mama Lisa, MP3's, MP3's of Poems, New Year's Eve, New Years, New Years Poems, Poems, Poetry, Recordings, Recordings of Poems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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