Sonnet d'Arvers
Mon âme a son Secret
Ma Vie a son Mystère
Félix Arvers
July 23, 1806 – November 7, 1850
French poet and dramatist, most famous for his poem Un secret.
🇫🇷 🇺🇸
The sonnet is also known around the world as the Sonnet d'Arvers:
🇫🇷 Un Secret
Mon âme a son secret, ma vie a son mystère
Un amour éternel en un moment conçu:
Le mal est sans espoir, aussi j'ai dû le taire,
Et celle qui l'a fait n'en a jamais rien su.
Un amour éternel en un moment conçu:
Le mal est sans espoir, aussi j'ai dû le taire,
Et celle qui l'a fait n'en a jamais rien su.
Hélas! j'aurai passé près d'elle inaperçu,
Toujours à ses côtés et pourtant solitaire;
Et j'aurai jusqu'au bout fait mon temps sur la terre,
N'osant rien demander et n'ayant rien reçu.
Toujours à ses côtés et pourtant solitaire;
Et j'aurai jusqu'au bout fait mon temps sur la terre,
N'osant rien demander et n'ayant rien reçu.
Pour elle, quoique Dieu l'ait faite douce et tendre,
Elle suit son chemin, distraite et sans entendre
Ce murmure d'amour élevé sur ses pas.
Elle suit son chemin, distraite et sans entendre
Ce murmure d'amour élevé sur ses pas.
A l'austère devoir pieusement fidèle,
Elle dira, lisant ces vers tout remplis d'elle:
"Quelle est donc cette femme ?" Et ne comprendra pas!
Elle dira, lisant ces vers tout remplis d'elle:
"Quelle est donc cette femme ?" Et ne comprendra pas!
🇺🇸 My Secret
My soul its secret has, my life too has its mystery,
A love eternal in a moment's space conceived;
Hopeless the evil is, I have not told its history,
And the one who was the cause nor knew it nor believed.
A love eternal in a moment's space conceived;
Hopeless the evil is, I have not told its history,
And the one who was the cause nor knew it nor believed.
Alas! I shall have passed close by her unperceived,
Forever at her side, and yet forever lonely,
I shall unto the end have made life's journey, only
Daring to ask for naught, and having naught received.
Forever at her side, and yet forever lonely,
I shall unto the end have made life's journey, only
Daring to ask for naught, and having naught received.
For her, though God has made her gentle and endearing,
She will go on her way distraught and without hearing
These murmurings of love that round her steps ascend.
She will go on her way distraught and without hearing
These murmurings of love that round her steps ascend.
Piously faithful still unto her austere duty,
She will say, when she shall read these lines full of her beauty,
"Who can this woman be?" and will not comprehend.
She will say, when she shall read these lines full of her beauty,
"Who can this woman be?" and will not comprehend.
Born in Paris, Arvers abandoned his law career aged 30 to concentrate
on theatre. His plays gained moderate success in their own time, but
none were as notorious as Un Secret, dedicated to Marie, the daughter of writer Charles Nodier. This poem was taken from a piece he wrote aged 25, Mes heures perdues (My lost hours).
Felix Arvers found no way to express his unrequited love and alleviate his pain, he had no way but confide his feelings in a sonnet.
The poem was so heart-rending and struck such a success and popularity
with its powerful romantic description of profound feelings among the
frequenters of the Paris literary salons that it was circulated for
recite among them for years before becoming a classic of French romantic
poetry after his death.
Un secret was the only well-known poem in his oeuvre titled Mes heures perdues,
Félix Arvers was referred to in French literature as "The Poet of a
single poem."
* Translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator - Harvard scholar versed in several European languages.
He was heavily influenced by Romanticism and made a name as a poet and novelist. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", Hyperion, Evangeline, Poems on Slavery and The Song of Hiawatha.
He was the first American to completely translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was one of the fireside poets from New England.
He was heavily influenced by Romanticism and made a name as a poet and novelist. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", Hyperion, Evangeline, Poems on Slavery and The Song of Hiawatha.
He was the first American to completely translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was one of the fireside poets from New England.
No comments:
Post a Comment