Printemps (Springtime) is a lovely French poem written by Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885).  Below you can hear the poem recited and follow along with the original French text and an English translation…

MP3 of Printemps by Victor Hugo

Printemps

Voici donc les longs jours, lumière, amour, délire !
Voici le printemps ! mars, avril au doux sourire,
Mai fleuri, juin brûlant, tous les beaux mois amis !
Les peupliers, au bord des fleuves endormis,
Se courbent mollement comme de grandes palmes ;
L’oiseau palpite au fond des bois tièdes et calmes ;
Il semble que tout rit, et que les arbres verts
Sont joyeux d’être ensemble et se disent des vers.
Le jour naît couronné d’une aube fraîche et tendre ;
Le soir est plein d’amour ; la nuit, on croit entendre,
À travers l’ombre immense et sous le ciel béni,
Quelque chose d’heureux chanter dans l’infini.

Springtime

Here are the long days, light, love, delirium!
This is the Spring! March, April with a sweet smile,
May flowery, June blazing, all the beautiful friendly months!
The poplars, asleep by the riverside,
Bow gently like great palms
The bird quivers at the far end of the calm, tepid woods
It seems that everything laughs, and that the green trees
Are joyful to be together and say verses to each other.
The day comes crowned with a fresh and tender dawn
The evening is full of love, the night, one can almost hear
Through the immense shadow and under the sacred sky,
Something happy singing in the infinity.

Recording: Monique Palomares
English Translation: Lisa Yannucci
Image: The Banks of the River Epte in Springtime (1885) by Claude Monet

Many thanks to Monique Palomares for reciting this poem for us. Monique works with me on the French and Spanish versions of Mama Lisa’s World.