Marie Antoinette



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeF5O_X3wYY

Marie Antoinette

English translation:

She:
To be an apple tree…
just feeling and drawing strength from the roots,
to be an apple tree
standing firm, living through an everlasting change.
And slipping into sighs,
whispering with darkness of nights
to be an apple tree
free of dreams, free of words, free of emotions!

He:
Through the fog of centuries and the smoke of a cigarette
I see your white face and contour of your silhouette.
How you’re first walking out of the gardens into the fields
where your salty bread is quietly ripening.
Gone is the time of sowing, now comes the time of harvest.
And with the last chorus of your rococo song
the early evening fell onto your cheeks.
And the month of June reflected in your eyes
turns spring into summer.
Marie Antoinette!

She:
To be an apple tree
Without a name and age, so beautifully thirsty
To grow into the branches
In which a bird is warming up a nest for its young
And to blossom
When the breath of my fruits first starts to smell
To be enchanted
Into the autumn winds in leaves of apple trees!

He:
You’re leaning down to the ear of wheat which knew the thirst of the earth
And somewhere above the fields the mills of God are already grinding.
You don’t have to let go of the light with the evening just yet,
Your bitter midsummer day is not yet rushing.
The wind has turned and sways the vast wheat fields
Stirring and awakening the poisonous grains
You may be surprised, but probably
You don’t even realize
how long ago it was sowed!
Marie Antoinette!

He:
Somewhere above the fields the time has lit the first candle
While you are still walking on, gentle and loving.
For now, you can still be far away from everything,
Before the evening falls down on knees,
Before the night gleams like swift bodies of vipers,
Before the dawn bends your white neck down to the ground.
The time has not set limits for atrocities
Even today there is a warning light
One extinct planet
Marie Antoinette!

She:
Let the rain kiss me on branches and on leaves
like on a mouth,
Let the sorrow from my wounds
be encrusted by a healing resin just like a tree!

He:
Although it is not foretold in the prophecies,
I believe your fate will find its redemption.
As a gentle, dreamy and loving woman
You are born again into new centuries.
Beautiful and mysterious I recognize you by voice,
By your scent, by roses, by the eyes in amazement.
By the question marks at your sentences
Whether the world has space for kindness
Whether love is over gold
Marie Antoinette!

Original Czech version:

Ona:   
Být jabloní…
jen vnímat a sát sílu z kořenů,
být jabloní
pevně stát, prožívat věčnou proměnu.
A do vzdechů
se vkrádat a s tmou šumět do noci
být jabloní
prosta snů, prosta slov, prosta emocí!

On:
Přes mlhu staletí a přes dým cigarety
vidím tvou bílou tvář a obrys siluety
jak prvně vycházíš ze zahrad do polí,
kde tiše dozrává tvůj chleba se solí.
Pryč je čas osení, nastává doba sklizně.
S posledním refrénem tvé rokokové písně
podvečer padl na tvou líc
a červen u tvých zřítelnic
mění se z jara na léto.
Marie Antoinetto!

Ona:
Být jabloní
bez jména a let krásně žíznivá
růst do větví,
v kterých pták mláďatům hnízdo zahřívá.
A rozkvétat
když dech plodů mých prvně zavoní
být zakletá
do větrů podzimních v listí jabloní!

On:
Skláníš se ke klasům, jež znaly žízeň hlíny
a kdesi nad poli už klepou boží mlýny.
Ještě se nemusíš s večerem světla vzdát,
dnes ještě nespěchá tvůj hořký slunovrat.
Vítr se obrátil a širé lány vlní,
sílí a probouzí to jedovaté zrní.
Možná se divíš, ale spíš
patrně ani netušíš
jak dávno bylo zaseto!
Marie Antoinetto!

On:
Čas kdesi nad poli zapálil první svíci,
ty zatím kráčíš dál, něžná a milující.
Teď ještě chvíli smíš být všemu vzdálená,
než večer dopadne na těžká kolena,
než noc se zablýská jak mrštná těla zmijí,
než úsvit k zemi až ohne tvou bílou šíji.
Čas hrůzám nenastavil mez
varovným světlem je i dnes
jedna vyhaslá planeta
Marie Antoinetta!

Ona:
Ať mě líbá déšť do větví, do listí
jako na ústa,
stesk z mých ran
jako strom hojivou mízou zarůstá!

On:
I když to ve věštbách prorokováno není
já vím, že úděl tvůj najde své vykoupení.
Jak něžná, zasněná a milující žena
do nových staletí jsi znovu narozena.
Krásnou a záhadnou poznám tě po hlasu,
po vůni, po růžích, po očích v úžasu.
Po otazníku u tvých vět
zda místo pro vlídnost má svět,
zdali je láska nad zlato,
Marie Antoinetto!
 

About this poem

After writing my poem "Marie Antoinette", I decided to set a part of it to music and keep part in the form of a recitative, underlined by music. At the same time, a video clip was created for the poem, which is placed on YouTube. I tried to penetrate more than 230 years ago and connect it to the present in what humanity is still the same: people's eternal desire for beauty and love, as well as personal suffering. Although the world has changed unbelievably since the time of Marie Antoinette, there is still a lot of negative in the world, which has carried over to more than two centuries. I believe that my form of Marie Antoinette's story will at least a little contribute to young people's reflection about human and life values. 

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Submitted by ludmila.hevesiova on November 08, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

4:35 min read
4

Quick analysis:

Scheme AAbAcdxAx AeefgxxxdxE AAahxxxxi AxgegfxadxE AxggixxixxE Axxxa AijjixxhxxE j KJlJmabJg NeexxjjagmE KJxaaxjej NjjaejjxeeE Nbaljcaxbee Kxoxx NjjojbbaaeE
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 4,748
Words 918
Stanzas 15
Stanza Lengths 9, 11, 9, 11, 11, 5, 11, 1, 9, 11, 9, 11, 11, 5, 11

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    "Marie Antoinette" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/113562/marie-antoinette>.

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