Here’s the French poem Le Thé (Tea) by Théodore de Banville with an mp3 recording. After the poem you’ll find an English translation.
Le Thé
Miss Ellen, versez-moi le Thé
Dans la belle tasse chinoise,
Où des poissons d’or cherchent noise
Au monstre rose épouvanté.
J’aime la folle cruauté
Des chimères qu’on apprivoise :
Miss Ellen, versez-moi le Thé
Dans la belle tasse chinoise.
Là, sous un ciel rouge irrité,
Une dame fière et sournoise
Montre en ses longs yeux de turquoise
L’extase et la naïveté :
Miss Ellen, versez-moi le Thé.
Tea
Miss Ellen, pour me tea
In the beautiful Chinese cup
Where the goldfish pick a fight
With the terrified rose monster.
I love the crazy cruelty
Of domesticated chimeras*:
Miss Ellen, pour me tea
In the beautiful Chinese cup.
There, under a flaming red sky,
A proud and sly lady
Shows in her wide turquoise eyes
Ecstasy and innocence:
Miss Ellen, pour me tea.
*Chimeras are either mythological monsters or fish.
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Sunday, May 19th, 2013 at 4:39 pm and is filed under French, French Poems, Languages, MP3's, MP3's of 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.
One Response to “Miss Ellen Pour Me Tea – A French Poem with an MP3 Recording”
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July 6th, 2014 at 6:07 pm
A great poem indeed. Thank you, I hope you keep those poems coming.