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Poetry

Trilingual Day of Rain

By Alejandro Saravia
Translated from Spanish by María José Giménez

stone
over stone
s
i
l
e
n
c
e

il pleut aujourd’hui au Fort Chambly
il pleut exactement comme il pleuvait il y a 400 ans
il pleut comme il pleuvait il y a 1 400 ans
il pleut comme il pleuvait il y a 11 400 ans
11 400 années de pluie

as rain falls this afternoon
a man in wet clothes
stares at stone over stone
the low clouds, the rain
in
s
i
l
e
n
c
e

Louis XVI reinaba en Francia
en Nueva Francia llovía
sobre las piedras y los bosques
sobre la piel del río Richelieu
sobre los hombres del regimiento de Carignan-Salières
una lluvia que se repite meticulosa
desde el alba del tiempo

the man in his drenched jacket
stares at the stone walls of Fort Chambly
the foam on the river, the great maples
his footsteps under the rain
walking on this land where they fought
among birds and screams
arrows and cannons
Iroquois and Algonquians
French and English
Canada against the United States

the man’s hands
brush along
the stone walls
it’s still raining
as it did at the beginning of time


Día bilingüe de lluvia. © 2014 by Alejandro Saravia. Translation © 2016 by María José Giménez. All rights reserved.

English

stone
over stone
s
i
l
e
n
c
e

il pleut aujourd’hui au Fort Chambly
il pleut exactement comme il pleuvait il y a 400 ans
il pleut comme il pleuvait il y a 1 400 ans
il pleut comme il pleuvait il y a 11 400 ans
11 400 années de pluie

as rain falls this afternoon
a man in wet clothes
stares at stone over stone
the low clouds, the rain
in
s
i
l
e
n
c
e

Louis XVI reinaba en Francia
en Nueva Francia llovía
sobre las piedras y los bosques
sobre la piel del río Richelieu
sobre los hombres del regimiento de Carignan-Salières
una lluvia que se repite meticulosa
desde el alba del tiempo

the man in his drenched jacket
stares at the stone walls of Fort Chambly
the foam on the river, the great maples
his footsteps under the rain
walking on this land where they fought
among birds and screams
arrows and cannons
Iroquois and Algonquians
French and English
Canada against the United States

the man’s hands
brush along
the stone walls
it’s still raining
as it did at the beginning of time


Día bilingüe de lluvia. © 2014 by Alejandro Saravia. Translation © 2016 by María José Giménez. All rights reserved.

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