Preening

You may have gleaned from my posts that I'm learning French or, more accurately, that I'm enrolled in French classes.  Whether there has been any learning remains to be seen.  Happily, I find one of the best modes of instruction is reading French poetry.  (I mean, what do you know?)  Here's a poem from one of my favorite authors, Raymond Queneau.  See what you can understand (translation below).  (And it helps to read the original aloud with a rhee-di-kuh-lus Frauench aghsennt.)

“L’Espèce Humaine”

L’espèce humaine m’a donné
le droit d’être mortel
le devoir d’être civilisé
la conscience humaine
deux yeux qui d’ailleurs ne fonctionnent pas très bien
le nez au milieu du visage
deux pieds deux mains
le langage
l’espèce humaine m’a donné
mon père et ma mère
peut-être des frères on ne sait
des cousins à pelletées
et des arrière-grands-pères
l’espèce humaine m’a donné
ses trois facultés
le sentiment l’intelligence et la volonté
chaque chose de façon modérée
l’espèce humaine m’a donné
trente-deux dents un cœur un foie
d’autres viscères et dix doigts
l’espèce humaine m’a donné
de quoi se dire satisfait

"The Human Species"

The human species has given me
the right to be mortal

the duty to be civilized

a conscience

2 eyes that don't always function very well

a nose in the middle of my face

2 feet 2 hands

speech

the human species has given me

my father and mother

some brothers maybe who knows

a whole mess of cousins

and some great-grandfathers

the human species has given me

its 3 faculties

feeling intellect and will

each in moderation

32 teeth 10 fingers a liver

a heart and some other viscera

the human species has given me

what I'm supposed to be satisfied with

--translated by Teo Savory (The Random House Book of Twentieth Century French Poetry, edited by Paul Auster, 1984)

Now may be an opportune moment to mention exactly how I feel about the book above.  Go buy it!  The introduction is fantastic.  The translations were all crafted by leading literary figures of the 20th century.  The original poems are by the most impeccable French poets.  Plus the books looks très moderne, so people will think you are wicked smart.  That may not have been exactly how I feel, but it dances near enough to the truth.

Comments

[Imani]

I did not know that Queneau wrote poetry. That should be a nice intro to French poetry since I dig the novels but never moved beyond that.

Incidentally, I have managed, through subliminal messages and "Sunday Salon" postings, to persuade two of my blog's readers to try Josipovici. One read and reviewed "Everything Passes" and the other bought "Goldberg: Variations". (The second had been considering it since the first time I mentioned it.) And Picador Blog picked up on the Sunday Salon stuff.

I shall convert the entire world. It is only a matter of time.

[Brian Hadd]

Ja ne sais qua. Non, ja ne sais qua, ja.

[Michael]

Imani! Yes, Queneau was prolific in many directions. He once said that poetry was the most important quality of his prose. (Then again, I say that, too.)

And nice work there with Goldberg. That's great news that it was picked up on Picador's blog. I assure you that Gabriel is happy to see it.

Brian, good to hear from you again. I don't know either.

[Chatel]

I took French all through high school and tried for two years in college...this poem really made me miss the reason why I love this language so much...the translation is really beautiful...

[Maria]

Very cool, Michael. I wonder if this method would help me studying Italian?