Monday, April 19, 2010
Annie
On the coast of Texas
Between Mobile and Galveston there is a
Large garden with roses galore
It also contains a country house
Itself a big rose
A woman often strolls
All alone through the garden
And when I walk past on the road fringed with lime trees
We look at each other
Because that woman's a Mennonite
Her rosebushes and her garments have no buttons
Two are missing from my jacket
The lady and I observe almost the same rite
Apollinaire
translation by Jack Hayes
© 2010
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This is like a snapshot. I really like the second stanza particularly.
ReplyDeleteWe live very near Mennonite country here, in Southern Ontario. It is fascinating to see how they live their lives.
Hi Kat: This is one of my very, very favorite poems--in fact, the final stanza of this poem is the dedication to "The Spring Ghazals." I think it was also the first Apollinaire poem I translated, tho I've tinkered with it over the years.
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