Le pont Mirabeau
Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine
Et nos amours
Faut-il qu'il m'en souvienne
La joie venait toujours après la peineVienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeureLes mains dans les mains restons face à face
Tandis que sous
Le pont de nos bras passe
Des éternels regards l'onde si lasseVienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeureL'amour s'en va comme cette eau courante
L'amour s'en va
Comme la vie est lente
Et comme l'Espérance est violenteVienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeurePassent les jours et passent les semaines
Ni temps passé
Ni les amours reviennent
Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la SeineVienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure
Mirabeau Bridge
Translated by Richard Wilbur
Under the Mirabeau Bridge there flows the Seine
Must I recall
Our loves recall how then
After each sorrow joy came back again
Let night come on bells end the day
The days go by me still I stay
Hands joined and face to face let's stay just so
While underneath
The bridge of our arms shall go
Weary of endless looks the river's flow
Let night come on bells end the day
The days go by me still I stay
All love goes by as water to the sea
All love goes
by
How slow life seems to me
How violent the hope of love can be
Let night come on bells end the day
The days go by me still I stay
The days the weeks pass by beyond our ken
Neither time past
Nor love comes back again
Under the Mirabeau Bridge there flows the Seine
Let night come on bells end the day
The days go by me still I stay
THE MIRABEAU BRIDGE
tr.. Peter Dean
Under the Mirabeau Bridge runs the Seine
And our love
I must bring to mind once again
That joy always came after pain
Cometh the night chimeth the hour
The days go on I lack power
Hands joined face to face each of us abides
Whilst beneath
The bridge our arms form slides
The weary water of love forever's tides
Cometh the night chimeth the hour
The days go on I lack power
Love passes like this running stream
Love takes its leave
Life is a dream
And Hope a dangerous extreme
Cometh the night chimeth the hour
The days go on I lack power
On go the days and on go weeks again
Not time gone by
Nor love can one regain
Under the Mirabeau Bridge runs the Seine
Cometh the night chimeth the hour
The days go on I lack power
MIRABEAU BRIDGE
tr. James Kirkup
(tanka sequence with haiku refrain)
The Seine keeps flowing
under the Mirabeau Bridge -
and our loves also -
I need to remember that
joy always follows sorrow.
And when night's bell tolls
the days take their departure -
I alone remain
Holding hand in hand,
let us sit face to face while
underneath the bridge
of our arms pass eternal
gazings on such weary waves.
And when nights bell tolls
the days take their departuure -
I alone remain
Love is flowing fast
away, just as these flowing
waters flow away
slow as life itself flows by -
how violent Hope becomes.
And when the night's bell tolls
the days take their departure -
I alone remain
The days passing by,
the weeks passing by - and yet
neither our past time
nor our loves return - under
Mirabeau Bridee flows the Seine -
And when night s bell tolls
the days take their departure -
I alone remain
THE MIRABEAU BRIDGE
Guillaume Apollinaire trans. A. S. Kline
Under the Mirabeau flows the Seine
And our amours
Shall I remember it again
Joy always followed after Pain
Comes the night sounds the hour
The days go by I endure
Hand in hand rest face to face
While underneath
The bridge of our arms there races
So weary a wave of eternal gazes
Comes the night sounds the hour
The days go by I endure
Love vanishes like the water’s flow
Love vanishes
How life is slow
And how Hope lives blow by blow
Comes the night sounds the hour
The days go by I endure
Let the hour pass the day the same
Time past returns
Nor love again
Under the Mirabeau flows the Seine
Comes the night sounds the hour
The days go by I endur
THE PONT MIRABEAU
tr. Oliver Bernard
Under the Pont Mirabeau the Seine
Flows with our loves
Must I recall again?
Joy always used to follow after pain
Let the night come: strike the hour
The days go past while I stand here
Hands holding hands let us stay face to face
While under this
Bridge our arms make slow race
Long looks in a tired wave at a wave's pace
Let the night come: strike the hour
The days go past while I stand here
Love runs away like running water flows
Love flows away
But oh how slow life goes
How violent hope is nobody knows
Let the night come: strike the hour
The days go past while I stand here
The days pass and the weeks pass but in vain
Neither time past
Nor love comes back again
Under the Pont Mirabeau flows the Seine
Let the night come: strike the hour
The days go past but I stay here
Roger Shattuck. 1971
The Mirabeau Bridge
Tr. by Philip Nikolayev
Under the Mirabeau Bridge flows the Seine
Of our loves
And must I be reminded of them when
What joy we had forever came with pain
The hours chime as night follows day
Days go by while I stay
We’ll wait hands in hands face facing face
As under the
Bridge of our arms the empty space lets pass
A wave weary of our eternal gaze
The hours chime as night follows day
Days go by while I stay
Love slips away like this water’s flow
It must go
Because life is too slow
And hope is violence and vertigo
The hours chime as night follows day
Days go by while I stay
Days drag on and weeks drag on
Neither can
Time past return nor loves gone
Under the Mirabeau Bridge flows the Seine
Mirabeau Bridge
tr. Donald Revelle
Under Mirabeau Bridge the river slips away
And lovers
Must I be reminded
Joy came always after pain
The night is a clock chiming
The days go by not I
We’re face to face and hand in hand
While under the bridges
Of embrace expire
Eternal tired tidal eyes
The night is a clock chiming
The days go by not I
Love elapses like the river
Love goes by
Poor life is indolent
And expectation always violent
The night is a clock chiming
The days go by not I
The days and equally the weeks elapse
The past remains the past
Love remains lost
Under Mirabeau Bridge the river slips away
The night is a clock chiming
The days go by not I
Le pont Mirabeau
tr. Charles Bernstein
Under the Mirabeau bridge flows the Seine
And our
love
Comes back to memory again
Where always joy came after pain
Comes night, the hours sound
Days go round in which to drown
Hand in hand, face to face
While underneath
The bridge of our embrace
Eternal gazes, weary waves
Comes night, the hours sound
Days go round in which to drown
Love goes away like the water flows
Love goes away
Like life is slow
And like Hopefulness is violent
Comes night, the hours sound
Days go round in which to drown
Pass the days, pass the nights
Neither time past
Nor love comes back
Under the Mirabeau bridge flows the Seine
Comes night, the hours sound
Days go round in which to drown