Heaven French Poems

I don’t know if owning a beautiful home,
Facing the sea, makes happy,
There are people who do not manage their thoughts,
And that makes them dangerous,

There are...

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Waiting for chips*
Hungry at noon
Vinegar, salt
Use a fork not a spoon

Eat by the sea
Where the waves are unhurried
Peas that are mushed
Sauce that is curried

Two slices...

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This is my modern English translation of a French poem by Voltaire, one of my all-time favorite writers. The poem is followed by two translations...

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These are my modern English translations of sonnets by the French poet Stephane Mallarme.

The Tomb of Edgar Poe
by Stéphane Mallarmé
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Transformed...

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Looking back, one thing comes clean-glass clear
you were always there for me subduing every fear.

I tried to do my duty, be a husband strong and...

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Veronica Franco translations

Veronica Franco (1546-1591) was a Venetian courtesan who wrote literary-quality poetry and prose.

Capitolo 19: A Courtesan's Love Lyric (I) 
by Veronica Franco
loose translation...

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Le Balcon (The Balcony)
Charles Baudelaire
trans. Michael R. Burch

Paramour of memory, ultimate mistress,
source of all pleasure, my only desire;
how can I forget your ecstatic caresses,
the warmth...

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Oft in My Thought
by Charles D'Orleans
translation by Michael R. Burch

So often in my busy mind I sought,
Around the advent of the fledgling year,
For something pretty...

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Spring
by Charles d'Orleans (c.1394-1465)
loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Young lovers,
greeting the spring
fling themselves downhill,
making cobblestones ring
with their wild leaps and arcs,
like ecstatic sparks
struck from coal.

What...

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“Notre Dame”

A morning in April the world changed
And something which no one ever expected
Happened to a building in Paris
Hell reached up and grabbed a piece...

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Embers fall like snowflakes
Scarlet flames lap at the stones
that were left behind.

A choir of mourners
raise their voices from the ground
with hopes that the notes
of "Ave...

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Hail Mary full of Grace, 
In castles, painted stone.
The chairs too small for children now,
The Lord is (somehow) with thee.
Though the faces scorn and mock...

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The delicious odor of home-baked bread
instantly takes me to mum's kitchen door,
I'm in heaven, though not a word is said.
Kneading the dough, she'd punch it...

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 Translation of Eric Mottram’s HOMAGE TO PAUL ELUARD by T. Wignesan

(Note: Here, I retain EM’s translations into English from Paul Eluard’s poems and his...

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RECIPE: “Poulet Roti” French Style – Le Chant Royal (Instalment 3)

(Note: Rhyme scheme of “Le Chant Royal” where capital “E“stands for refrain, thus – Stanza:...

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