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Bad Luck In order to lift a weight so heavy,
Sisyphus, one would need your courage!
Even if one puts one's heart into the work,
Art is long and Time is short.
Far from the sepulchers of the renowned,
Toward an isolated cemetery,
My heart, like a muffled drum,
Goes beating out funeral marches.
-- Many a jewel sleeps buried
In shadow and oblivion,
Far from the miner's pickaxe and drill;
Many a flower reluctantly pours forth
Its sweet perfume like a secret
In the depths of solitude.
Original French
(All translations by Cat Nilan © 1999, 2004) |