Saturday, 9 July 2011

Translations of French Canadian Haiku

Last year my friend Dutch Jongman gave me a copy of Carpe Diem: a Canadian Anthology of Haiku, published in 1992 by Les Editions David and Borealis Press. Half of the poems were by English language poets and half were by French language poets, with no translations from either language into the other. Since I had just begun to study french I thought that the translation of haiku would be very good practice for a beginner. I translated all 160 of the french haiku, converting all of them into traditional haiku format. Many of these are not direct translations, but rather my own interpretations of the intentions of the authors. The following are my favourite from this project.


by Marie Amiot

en morceaux

les glace sur le fleuve

l’hiver qui dérive

my translation

broken in pieces

the ice upon the river

winter drifts away.


By Blanca Baquero

port de Sept-Îles

pas une île en vue

toujours cette brume

my translation

Seven Islands Port

constantly covered in fog

no islands in sight.


By Blanca Baquero

tamia aux aguets

la bajoue droite

farcie aux noix

my translation

Chipmunk on lookout

just the right side of its face

stuffed full of acorns.



By Blanca Baquero

devant la maison

une montaigne de neige

et ma petite pelle

my translation

in front of my house

against a mountain of snow

my little shovel.


by Micheline Beaudry

pieds nus sous la pluie

elle pousse ses sacs alourdis

l’itinérante

my translation

barefoot in the rain

she carries her heavy bag

of tourist guidebooks.


By Hélène Boissé

neige abondante

perdre ma trace

à chaque pas

my translation

Walk in a snowstorm

and behind me on the path

my tracks disappear.


by Linda Brousseau

chaloupe a l’abandon

contre son flanc

un barrage de castors

 my translation

a large beaver dam

and amongst the mound of sticks

an abandoned boat.


by France Cayouette

dans ma poche

la musique des agates

de l’été dernier

my translation

inside my pocket

agates I found last summer

are making music.


by France Cayouette

plongeon du huard

le lac se referme

sur lui

my translation

just after its dive

the lake becomes still again

on top of the loon.


by Gracia Couturier

des rire cristalline

sous un amas de feuilles

samedi matin

my translation

saturday morning

from inside a pile of leaves

laughter of children.


by Gracia Couturier

un chat patiente

la queue dans une trou de glace

le poisson est rare

my translation

a patient feline

with its tail down an ice-hole

the fish aren’t biting.


by Jean Dorval

dans l’évier

une truite

et un poisson rouge

my translation

a strange encounter

trout and goldfish together

in my kitchen sink.


by Claire Du Sablon

rue Sainte-Catherine

papiers mégots seringue

et un pissenlit

my translation

on St Catherine street

cigarette butts, a syringe

and a dandilion.


by Jaques Gauthier

les chiens aboient

les oiseaux se taisent

passe la montgolfière

my translation

dogs begin to bark

birds suddenly fall silent

the hot air balloon.


by Hélène Larocque-Nolin

deux bébé mouffettes

se chamaillent comme des chatons

boule noire et blanche

my translation

a black and white ball

and fighting for possession

a pair of skunk kits.

by Carol Lebel

une fourmi grimpe

sur la plus haute herbe

et fixe la lune

my translation

an ant has arrived

on the highest blade of grass

just as the moon sets.

By Carmen Leblanc

pêche du soir

tout au bout de la ligne

un quartier de lune

my translation

fishing in the night

but at the end of my line

just a crescent moon.

 by Hélène Leclerc
  
manteau de printemps

vieille liste d’épicerie

dans les poches

my translation

back in my Spring coat

I find inside the pocket

an old grocery list.


by Carmen Marois

camping sauvage

un raton laveur

inspecte la glacièr

my translation

camping in the wild

a raccoon park official

inspects our cooler.


by Robert Melançon

allant et venant

les libellules bleues cousent

la rivière a l’aire

my translation

coming and going

blue dragonflies are sewing

the river to air.


by Robert Melançon

dans la gazon

qu’il faudrait tondre

la queue de l’écureuil 

my translation

along with the grass

also needing to be mowed

the tail of that squirrel.


by Benoît Moreault

une chandelle

sur le bord de la fenêtre

lutte avec les ombres

my translation

on the window ledge

a flickering candle flame

wrestles with shadows.


by Benoît Moreault

motifs floraux

sur la boire de mouchoirs

pour mon rhume des foins

my translation

display of flowers

on the box that holds tissues

for my hay fever.


by Danyelle Morin

un pic-bois cogne

au chambranle de ma porte

visite impromptue

my translation

a knock on my door

an unexpected visit

from a woodpecker.


by Michel Pleau

bouleau de décembre

la neige

devenue arbre

my translation

a transformation

the morning after a storm

snow became a tree.


by Alain Raimbault

des fleurs au guidon

le cycliste se faufile

jusqu'à l’hopital

my translation

flowers on handlebars

the cyclist weaves through traffic

to the hospital.


by Gilles Ruel

dans les serres de l’aigle

une truite

danse dans le ciel

my translation

the eagle’s talons

hold onto a shining trout

dancing in the sky.


by Anne-Marie Tanguay

rebord de fenêtre

deux corbeaux immobiles

prolongent la nuit

my translation

on my windowledge

a pair of motionless crows

prolonging the night.


by Denise Theriault-Ruest

coup de vent

sur un tandem de libellules

coït interrompu

my translation

sudden gust of wind

on a pair of dragonflies

coitus interruptus.


by Francois-Bernard Tremblay

deux grosses fraises

sur le costume de ma fille

l’une cousue, l’autre écrasée

my translation

two large strawberries

on my little girl’s costume

one sewn and one crushed.


by Francois-Bernard Tremblay

surprise au bistro

cette jolie femme accoudée au bar

mon voisin

my translation

a pleasant surprise

pretty woman at the bar

my next door neighbour.

by Louise Vachon

devant la porte

le cadavre d’un bourdon

l’été et fini

my translation

in front of my door

carcass of a bumblebee

 summer is over.


By Josceline Vaillancourt

dans la nid

 a la place des oeufs

la neige

my translation

inside of the nest

there are no eggs any more

only nest-shaped snow.





























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