Hi all,

This post is a bit different than the rest.  I’ll be translating Roupen Sevag’s translation of Verlaine’s “Chanson d’automne”.  For completeness, you can read Verlaine’s original below.

Chanson d’automne par Verlaine

Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l’automne
Blessent mon coeur
D’une langueur
Monotone.

Tout suffocant
Et blême, quand
Sonne l’heure.
Je me souviens
Des jours anciens,
Et je pleure…

Et je m’en vais
Au vent mauvais
Qui m’emporte
De çà, de là,
Pareil à la
Feuille morte…

Now, this is Sevag’s translation into Western Armenian…

Sevag’s translation of Verlaine’s poem

And this is my attempt to translate the Armenian version of the original French….
Autumn’s Song

Cradled by the incessant
Hum of violins
I let out a cry from deep
Within my heart.

When the hour strikes,
Horrid, evil, ill-timed –
I think of days past
And I weep.

And I continue along – silent –
At the whim of my past
Tossed here and there
Like an autumn leaf – drifting away.