Intentional Fallacy Poems | Examples

Autumnal Dirge: Translation of Paul Verlaine's Chanson D'Automne

Autumnal Dirge

(One of many possible translations* of « Chanson d’automne » by Paul Verlaine)

	for Sandra Feldman

Drawn out sobs
Violins
   of autumn
Wound my heart
Through a languor
    Monotonous

Hardly breathing
And turning wan, when
    The knell tolls,
I recall
Days gone by
   And I cry

And I have to leave
With the unwelcome wind
   Which bears me away
Here now, there then
Much as  a
   (Wafting) Dead leaf.

•	This is as close to a literal translation as I can get, for I do think the original visual structure ought not to be disturbed and as long as the poet’s « meaning » (Intentional fallacy/Affective fallacy notwithstanding), if any, be not overly distorted.

© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2013