Ignace Nau
La Mouche-à-feu / Lightning Bug (verse)
Loading...
Translation By
Emeline Frix
Translator Biography
Emeline Frix is pursuing an MA in Professional French Translation at Montclair State University where she works as Graduate Assistant for the Department of World Languages and Cultures. Originally from Belgium, she is fluent in French and English.
Publication Date
2022
Description
English translation of Ignace Nau's "La Mouche-à-feu" by Emeline Frix
La Mouche-à-feu / Lightning Bug (verse)
English translation of Ignace Nau's "La Mouche-à-feu" by Emeline Frix
Original Work
Le jour tombe et s’efface
Va, monte, redescends,
Vole, passe et repasse,
Sans cesse dans l’espace.
Etoile voyageuse,
Petite mouche-à-feu,
Si vive et si joyeuse,
A l’œil suave et bleu.
De parterre en parterre,
A feu de tes éclairs,
Va toujours solitaire,
Quêter avec mystère
Les parfums les plus chers.
Sous la haie odorante,
C’est la belle-de-nuit
A la robe brillante,
Qui s’ouvre chatoyante
A la lune qui luit.
Vole, brille et bourdonne,
Emplis-toi des senteurs
Que la brise te donne ;
Car la nuit se couronne,
D’étoile et de fleurs.
Poem by Ignace Nau, read by Emeline Frix
Translated Work
The sun sets and fades
Leaves, rises, descends,
Flies, passes, and pervades,
Never-ending space promenades.
Traveling star,
Little lightning bug,
So lively and happy you are,
Looking blue and snug.
Flowerbeds a-hopping,
Aglow with your lightning,
Solitarily wondering,
Mysteriously seeking
Perfumes most enriching.
Beneath the fragrant shrubbery,
The four o’clocks of June*
With a gown of luxury,
Which opens so shimmery
To the gleaming moon.
Shine, buzz, and fly down,
Fill yourself with the odors
Of the breeze that is around;
Because the night wears a crown,
Of stars and flowers.
Translated by Emeline Frix, 2022