"Lessons" by Renée Vivien [1]
Originally published in Renée Vivien's 1908 collection of poems, Sillages, under the title "Enseignment."
You wish to learn the secrets of sorceresses?
Then I will illuminate for you their midnight processes
And teach you the very simple art of the sorceresses.
Sorceresses live only at night.
When the sun rises, they take flight,
Accustomed only to the shadows of night.
Sorceresses have souls, calm and black.
The stars are as common to them as a cul-de-sac, [2]
The fire of worlds shining in their eyes black.
We fear them, we hunt them, we don't love them.
No matter where they go, still we condemn.
They don't understand, we don't understand them.
However, they are really quite simple… They are born.
To understand them, try to be without scorn
And realize that they have the right to be and be born.
Everyone preaches about good and evil.
But these beings have only the sin of being abnormal,
Their inoffensive hearts weren't made to be evil.
But, still, these women are bad and weird,
Because in a silent world, their souls cheered, [3]
And, to them, their laws are never weird.
They barely touch the earth true.
Everything is either black or white, in their view,
And any nuance can't be true.
With their looks and smiles both vague,
The gloomy purple and dull gold rags from the last plague
Suit them well and keep their bodies vague.
They know how to hide from the light above
Their hearts, sad hatred and even sadder love –
Their souls are indifferent to whatever lies above.
They don't care if they don't survive
The harshness of day, and the music of their life
Goes out with only a faint cry from those who survive.
They don't care – all of them are indifferent
Because the universe is a lyre, obedient
Only to the hand, whose sobbing song is sweet and indifferent.
They live in a tired dream, alone
As the moon, exploring the universe known
And trying to find which planet is best to die alone.
Translator's Notes
In some cases, I had to change up the lines quite a bit to fit this weird rhyme scheme, but I tried to still convey the same or almost the same meaning. I'll note where things went particularly far from the original and give a direct translation.
Originally:
Les astres leur sont moins étranges que les foires.
The stars to them are less strange than fairs.
Originally:
Mais ces femmes sont les maudites étrangères.
Car dans un monde épais, leurs âmes sont légères,But these women are the cursed strangers.
Because in a dense world, their souls are light.