Il faut cultiver son jardin.



Si J'avais un petit jardin.

Si J'avais un petit jardin
Je m'en irais chaque matin
Dans les parfums et dans la brise
Pour voir, pendant que je revai
Si mon jardin ne m'a pas fait
Une surprise.

J'irais regarder de tout près
Si les rosiers sont en progrès
et si les bourgeons vont éclore
ou bien si les lilas frileux
trouvant qu'il fait trop froid pour eux
tardent encore!

Si j'avais un petit jardin
je m'en irais chaque matin
L'âme curieuse et ravie
Ecouter partout dans les fleurs
les fruits, les parfums, les couleurs,
Chanter la vie!

***

If I had a little garden,
I'd go out every morning,
into the scents mingling on the breeze
To see if, while I slept,
My garden didn't leave me
a surprise.

I'd go give a closer look
to see how the roses were coming along,
and to see if any buds emerged
or if the delicate lilies,
finding that it was too chilly,
hesitated again!

If I had a little garden,
I'd go out every morning,
Spirit curious and charmed
Listening for, among the flowers,
the fruits, the perfumes and the colors,
Their song of life!

Across the street at the hospital, I saw the first blooming cherry tree of the year. Brave thing to put its blossoms out on such a chilly day.

A Shropshire Lad, II

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

-A. E. Housman

(Happy Easter.)

***

Ralph Vaughan Williams set a number of Houseman's poems to music in his cycle On Wenlock Edge. Though the above is not included here, found this recording interesting for the historical context it gives.