Le Lac and some good memories

For some reason lately all of the French literature that I studied in college has been popping into my head. We memorized a lot in those good ol' days, and that is what has been poking up into my consciousness. In particular, Le Lac, a poem by Alphonse de LaMartine. These verses are what have been drawing me. I find that while my French is extremely rusty, the English translations I have found are also not exactly my understanding; they are close, but not quite spot on.

This gives me so much appreciation for my New Testament professor Bill Countryman, who, when he read from Scripture, read from the Greek and translated into English as he went. We did some amazing translations in our beginning Greek class, and while I must confess that language ability is all but gone, the study of Greek, and now my memories of French, remind me of the nuance of translation. And not just the nuance of translating lines of poetry or Scripture, but the translation of hearing the words spoken by another. We have so much to learn in listening deeply and faithfully to each other.

Several of my favorite verses of Le Lac, The Lake, by Alphonse de LaMartine

Ainsi, toujours poussés vers de nouveaux rivages,
Dans la nuit éternelle emportés sans retour,
Ne pourrons-nous jamais sur l'océan des âges
Jeter l'ancre un seul jour ?

And so, driven on ceaselessly toward new shores,
carried beyond return into eternal darkness,
shall we never cast anchor
for a single day in the ocean of time?

Aimons donc, aimons donc ! de l'heure fugitive,
Hâtons-nous, jouissons !
L'homme n'a point de port, le temps n'a point de rive ;
Il coule, et nous passons !

Let us love, then, let us love! be quick to
enjoy the fleeting hour!
Mankind has no harbour, time has no shore;
it flows, and we pass on!

Que le vent qui gémit, le roseau qui soupire,
Que les parfums légers de ton air embaumé,
Que tout ce qu'on entend, l'on voit ou l'on respire,
Tout dise : Ils ont aimé !

Let the moaning wind, the sighing reed,
the gentle scents of your fragrant air,
let all that is heard, seen or breathed, let all say: They have loved!