Friday, October 12, 2012

Pour un coeur qui s'ennuie...



One of my favorite French poems, Il pleure dans mon coeur, was set to music by Debussy.    

In case your high school French teacher didn't make you memorize this poem too, or you weren't required to learn the piano accompaniment in college, here's a brilliant recording of the chanson sung by Dawn Upshaw.  Heck, it's an enjoyable recording even if you did begrudgingly do those things.  Unfortunately the subtitles are in Spanish and the video is just creepy pics of Debussy...but... it's a great song! 


Basically it means (sorry, Verlaine) the sound of the rain soothes the soul.  More specifically to me, it means that when you feel dismal but nothing is truly wrong, the sound of rain soothes your pathetic self-centered case of ennuie


Il pleure dans mon coeur   ~ Paul Verlaine  (1844-1896)

Il pleure dans mon coeur
Comme il pleut sur la ville ;
Quelle est cette langueur
Qui pénètre mon coeur ?

Ô bruit doux de la pluie

Par terre et sur les toits !
Pour un coeur qui s'ennuie,
O le chant de la pluie !

Il pleure sans raison
Dans ce coeur qui s'écoeure.
Quoi !  nulle trahison ?...
Ce deuil est sans raison.

C'est bien le pire peine
De ne savoir pourquoi
Sans amour et sans haine
Mon coeur a tant de peine ! 



We have had so much rain the past couple days, it's been amazing.  Probably the most rain I have ever seen here.  Where we live right now, it just doesn't rain all that much.  It's too bad it happened to rain on DH while he was out sleeping in the field, though! 

I love a good thunderstorm, it's cathartic.  Everything feels a bit cleaner and fresher afterwards.  One of my piano teachers said to me once that the sky is never as beautiful and clear as it is after a rain storm.  At least in some parts of the country I have found that to be true.   

I'm starting to feel hopeful and like myself again.  Like a fog is clearing.  Unfortunately it's not doing much to help my use of cheesy metaphors. 

Now I have to go pack, and end this brief foray of regurgitating my French/vocal repertoire studies.  

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