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“Ève” by Charles Péguy 🇫🇷 (7 Jan 18735 Sep 1914)
Translated from the French by & Julian Green
Jesus speaks:
O my Mother buried beyond the first garden,
You no longer know of the kingdom of grace,
From the basin and spring to the high starlit place,
And the virgin sun that unveiled the first morning.
And the twists and the turns of the deer and the hind
Winding and unwinding in their friendly chase
And the sprints and the leaps that eventually end
And the celebration of their eternal race.
And the honoring of their original worth
And the resting of their hooves on the carpet blest,
And the laying of the two beauties on the earth,
Which serenely welcomed their most languorous rest.
And the rising rapture of the childlike gazelle
Lacing and unlacing his wandering trace,
Galloping and trotting and ending his chase,
And the salutation of his spirit vernal.
And the navigation of the goat and the roe
The crossing and curling of their audacious road.
And the sudden ascent to some immense plateau
And the salutation of their spacious abode.
And all these spinning ones and all these weaving ones
Tying and untying their knotted silk fiber,
Amid the golden stars and wavy spiral arms,
The Great Bear circled all around the Little Bear.
And these inventors and these embroiderers
Amid winding mazes of their organic lace.
And the fine surveyors from among these menders
Were rounding the corners of a hexahedron’s face.
A dawning creation without a single care
Turning and returning to the curves of the orb.
And the nut and the acorn the pome and the sorb
Under the teeth sweeter than the plum and the pear.
You remember no more the soft soil maternal
Its lush breasts exciting the many rising ears,
And your breed nursing from the numerous udders
And a chaste nature born from a body carnal.
You remember no more the soil all sable,
Nor the silence the shade and the white grape cluster,
Nor the ocean of wheat and weight of the table,
And the days of pleasure trailing one another.
You remember no more this plain in the summer,
Nor the oats and the rye and their overflowing,
Nor the vine and trellis and the flowers growing,
And the days of pleasure trailing one another.
You remember no more this dirt like a wellspring,
Which goes dull by the dint of being nourishing;
You remember no more the green vine flourishing,
And the amber wheat that shot up for your offspring.
You remember no more the tree red with apples
That bends under the weight at the harvest season;
You remember no more in front of your chapel
The youthful wheat springing right up for your children.
What since that dread day has become the sucking slime
Was then both a fulsome and a compliant soil;
And the Lady Wisdom and great King Solomon
Would not have divided the man from the angel.
What since that sad day has become the broken sum
Was obtained without a total or addition;
Lady Wisdom sitting on the Hill of Zion
Was no angel saving man from his destruction.
You remember neither this wide sweeping grassland,
Nor the secret ravine with the sharp slopes rising,
Nor the changing canvas of deep shadows falling.
Nor the valley sides as rich as fine porcelain.
You remember no more the gold seasons crowning
Dancing the same rhythm while still keeping the rhyme;
You remember no more the thrill of the springtime,
And the deeper sway of the cold seasons frowning.
You remember no more the bright dawning flowers
Flowing from the summits in rich drenching showers;
You remember no more the depths of the arcade,
And from the cypress tops the well-awarded shade.
You remember no more all the new years rising
Singing like a choir that summits the aeon.
You remember no more the start of the season
The chaste entwining of the sisters embracing.
You remember no more the seasons well aligned
Equal and happy at the times of the ebbing;
You remember no more the springtime returning
The seasons unfolding and straightened within time.
You remember no more the seasons returning
Sharing an equal joy in a frisson of time;
You remember no more the coming of springtime
The lithe winding of the seasons diverting.
You remember no more, one pole to the other
The earth rocking gently as a pretty cradle;
And the harsh withdrawal and the sudden departure
Of a young season that perished from betrayal.
You remember no more, one pole to the other
The earth sailing smoothly as a fine three-master;
And renunciation, and the harsh departure
Of the season that dies from the frosty weather.
You remember no more, one pole to the other,
The earth balanced as well as a mighty tower;
And the cold diversion and the ivory pallor
Of an old season that dies now and forever.
What since elder days has become an endless toil
Was then the nectar of the rich and fertile soil.
And no one understood the dread ancestral woe.
And no one put their hand to the crook and the hoe.
What since elder days has become a painful death
Was only a normal and tranquil departure.
Happiness pressed on man with every joyful breath.
The embarking was like leaving a sweet harbor.
Happiness flowed like some ale over a spillway,
The soul was a still pond of deepening silence.
The rising sun made a glowing golden monstrance
And reverberated in a bright silver day.
The censor made vapors like a sweet-smelling balm
And the red cedars were rising like barricades.
And the days of rapture were growing colonnades.
And all things were at rest in the grey evening calm.
And the wide earth was but a vast altar of peace.
And the ripe fruit always ready on the tall trees,
And the long days were scribed on the tombs of marble
In all they were but a splendid serving table.
And the wide earth was but a vast sylvan courtyard.
And the fruit all piled at the bottom of the trees,
And the days aligned down through the marble ages
In all they were but a sweet blooming orchard.
And the wide earth was but a tone garden of herbs.
And man was here at home while the pretty buds flowered,
And man respected by all the beasts and their herds
An amicable and benevolent shepherd.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Both resting and leaning onto His creation.
And with a love that was loyal yet paternal
Was then nourished by its homage and libation.
And God Himself alone holy and eternal
Had weighed the planet on his merciful balance.
And then considered with a regard paternal
The man of his image and of his resemblance.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Saw the inception of a new flowering age.
And the Father watching with a gaze paternal
The world brought together as a humble village.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Meditated on the splitting of night and day.
And he contemplated with a gaze paternal
The world timbered from wood into a fine chalet.
And God Himself one youthful yet eternal
Measuring all kairos and the plentiful age;
Fatherly considered with a gaze paternal
The world circumscribed like a beautiful village.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Made plans for going on a trip and the return.
And the Father watching with a gaze paternal
The world gathered around like an enormous burgh.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Started calculating the extent of the years.
And constantly watching with a gaze paternal
The seasons’ crown passing among the four sisters.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Saw the beginning of the chora and kairos.
And calmly looking down with a gaze paternal
Saw the reflection of God on its countenance.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Saw the beginning of the chora and kairos.
And quietly watching with a gaze paternal,
Saw the perfect image of God in every locus.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Saw the beginning of kairos and the cosmos.
Fatherly considered with a gaze paternal,
That the world is fading and a thing that passes.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Saw the first budding of a garden that says yes.
This Florist regarded with a gaze paternal
The blooming of a world putting on its best dress.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Marveled at the scale of the great sprawling spaces.
He then considered with a gaze paternal,
The relaxation of a world in its paces.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
A spectator watching the games of a young age.
Looking quietly with a gaze paternal,
He considered himself in man’s mirror image
And God Himself youthful holy and eternal
Laughed indulgently at the wishes of youth.
Prudently He then watched with a gaze paternal,
The world all dressed up in its own birthday suit.
And God Himself youthful holy and eternal
Looked at how the children of the primal age are.
Watching impartially with a gaze paternal
The world sailing along a beautiful seashore.
And God Himself youthful holy and eternal
Counted on his one hand the number of infants.
Cautiously he watched with a gaze paternal
The younger girl who was the last of the twins.
And God Himself youthful holy and eternal
Noticed the playing of children with their rattles.
Cautiously he watched with a gaze paternal
Like a mother leans on the sides of two cradles.
God Himself leaning then over love eternal
Noticed her flourish in their little dwellings.
And Fatherly he saw with a love maternal
It doubly shared between the two beautiful twins.
God himself bending then over love solemnly
Noticed her flourish in the two little dwellings.
And Fatherly he saw the love joyfully
Being spoken between the two beautiful twins.
God Himself bent over the flower eternal
Watching her blooming at the tips of the new stems.
And God himself leaning on a love fraternal
Watched her germinating in the hearts of the twins.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Watched the beginning of the laughter of the age
Impartially he watched with a gaze paternal
The world grouped together on a beautiful stage.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Watched the beginning of the weeping of the age.
Impartially he watched with a gaze paternal
The world embarking on a golden pilgrimage.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Watched the beginning of the crying of the age.
Impartially he watched with a gaze paternal
The world sailing away on an ocean voyage
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Watched the beginning of the kissing of the day.
Impartially he watched with a gaze paternal
The world raising anchor and sailing far away.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Watched the beginning of bold and careless thinking.
He watched anxiously and with a gaze paternal
The world sailing to the threshold of a sinking.
And God Himself holy youthful yet eternal
Watched the beginning of the advancing of age.
With a look always young and always paternal
He saw the beginning of a world growing sage.
And God Himself holy thoughtful and eternal
Considered all his work and found it a wonder.
From the first diamond to the final black cinder,
He enveloped it all with a gaze paternal.
And God himself holy blessed and eternal
Considered all his work and found it to be good
And that he was perfect and there was no falsehood
And it unfolded in an order paternal.
And the creation was like a mighty tower
That rises high above as an immense palace.
And kairos and chora provided the passage.
And the days of pleasure were like a sweet bower.
And the fidelities were strong as a tower.
And kairos and chora were waiting like footmen
And kairos and chora protected the deadline.
And the fidelities were not a fin’amor.
A God Himself holy, author and eternal
Considered all his work and found it a wonder.
From the apple blossom to the thistle flower,
He enveloped everything with a gaze paternal.
A God Himself holy, august and eternal
Saw only decency and a love filial.
And the world of spirit and the world temporal
Was before his true eyes a temple lilial.
A God Himself holy, father and eternal
Saw everywhere his sons and the sons of his sons.
And the fields of meslin, beside the fields of maize
Were before his eyes as the cloth of the altar.
A God Himself holy, youthful yet eternal
Saw then the universe as a boundless legacy.
A world without offense, a world without mercy
Developing the folds of an order formal.
A new God Himself one, holy and eternal
Saw then the inception of youthful novelty.
Fatherly watching with a gaze paternal
He beheld the real Form of emerging beauty.
A good God well-meaning, holy and eternal
Considered his work and then found it to be pure.
A cultivating God, economic and real
He saw the rye yellow and thought it was mature.
A fair statuesque God, holy and eternal
Considered his work and thought it was beautiful.
From the first fold and to the final crucible
There was one asylum equal and fraternal.
You remember no more this bright coat of rapture
Thrown over the shoulders for the world’s blessedness,
And this river and this flood and this genesis,
And gentle submission to the rules of honor.
You remember no more this cloak of tenderness
Thrown over the whole soul and this cape of honor.
You no longer experienced this chaste caress
And gentle submission to the rules of rapture.
You remember no more this bright coat of goodness
Thrown upon a whole world and this benevolence,
And this multitude and the ancient excellence,
And this cool solitude and this honest firmness.
You remember no more this satin coat of grace
Thrown upon the people and in great joyfulness
An entire world swollen with the same tenderness
From the close-cropped surface to the final terrace.
You remember no more this august wedding feast,
And the sap and the blood purer than morning dew.
The young soul had put on her snowy bridal dress,
And the whole earth inhaled the lavender and rue.
And the young man’s body was then very chaste
And the regard of man was a fathomless pool.
And the pleasure of man was then so vast
And the goodness of man was like a priceless jewel.
You remember no more the innocence of earth
The storehouse crowded to the front of the portal.
You remember no more this wild breed giving birth
And the meadows streaming with the immense cattle.
You remember no more the austere destiny.
You remember no more the revitalized earth
You remember no more the passion clandestine.
You remember no more the deeply covered earth.
You remember no more the wheat a vast blanket
And the sheaves rising to assault the granaries.
You remember no more the tireless grapevines.
And the clusters mounting to assault the basket.
You remember no more the enduring footsteps,
And the harvest rising in flight like some insects.
The grape harvest rising to assault the baskets.
The shoes of the pickers left some sandy footprints.
You remember no more the yawning cistern,
And the harvest rising to assault the millstone.
You remember no more the one wandering soul
And the suspicious steps on the paths through the shoal.
You remember no more the everlasting days,
And the grapes rising up to assault the vintner.
And the trellis rising to assault the farmer.
And the sumptuous steps on the sandy pathways.
You remember no more the involuntary corn,
You have known nothing but poor and futile plowing.
You have known nothing but poor and futile loving.
You have only known the dour worldly scorn.
You remember no more corn unforgettable.
You have known nothing but the harvested seasons.
And from the hills of the dying evergreen trees
You saw the starting of the days implacable.
You only remember cisterns leaking,
And the meager pastures and the meager plowing.
And the meager measures and the meager loving.
And the highest plateau of the cedars rotting.