Le poème d'Amanda Gorman

Je vous enjoins, pour les anglophones, le poème d'Amanda Gorman, qui a été sélectionné pour inaugurer l'investiture de Joe Biden. Vous pouvez le commenter, commenter ses qualités littéraires.

The hill we climb

When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade.
We've braved the belly of the beast,
We've learned that quiet isn't always peace,
and the norms and notions
of what just is
isn't always just-ice.
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we've weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn't broken,
but simply unfinished.
We the successors of a country and a time
where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one.
And yes we are far from polished.
Far from pristine.
But that doesn't mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge a union with purpose,
to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man.
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us,
but what stands before us.
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true,
that even as we grieved, we grew,
that even as we hurt, we hoped,
that even as we tired, we tried,
that we'll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat,
but because we will never again sow division.
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
and no one shall make them afraid.
If we're to live up to our own time,
then victory won't lie in the blade.
But in all the bridges we've made,
that is the promise to glade,
the hill we climb.
If only we dare.
It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it's the past we step into
and how we repair it.
We've seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it.
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
it can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth,
in this faith we trust.
For while we have our eyes on the future,
history has its eyes on us.
This is the era of just redemption
we feared at its inception.
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter.
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves.
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert,
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was,
but move to what shall be.
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free.
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation,
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation.
Our blunders become their burdens.
But one thing is certain,
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy,
and change our children's birthright.
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with.
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west.
We will rise from the windswept northeast,
where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states.
We will rise from the sunbaked south.
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover.
And every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful.
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid,
the new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we're brave enough to see it.
If only we're brave enough to be it.

j'ai de la peine à juger de la forme, dans son ensemble, même si on comprend lesouffle, mais je relève des choses remarquakles:

"we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one."

"every corner called our country,"

"aflame and unafraid"

"if only we're brave enough to see it.
If only we're brave enough to be it"

Et beacucoup d'autres...

and the norms and notions
of what just is
isn't always just-ice.

La justice glacée ?...

Mais :

It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it's the past we step into...

Ne me semble pas très loin de

"Make America great again"

Bien sûr ma sympathie va  a priori de ce côté-là mais avec beaucoup de doutes. N'est-ce pas qu'un patriotisme d'apparat ?  (Un patriotisme profond n'étant pas plus beau !)

Et je me demande si l'éngagement (idéologique, politique) ne tue pas nécessairement toute poésie autre que formelle ?

Je me souviens d'avoir enragé devant des poèmes odieusement réactionnaires (!) en me disant "putain que c'est beau" !

The hill we climb me fait un peu penser aux premiers de cordée de notre cher Président !

Moins aux premiers de corvée...

(D'accord, Trump n'y pensait pas d'avantage... encore moins même !)

Je dirai tout de même que c'est un très beau texte qu'il serait bon de faire étudier. Je vais l'envoyer à mon fils qui est prof d'anglais ! MERCI  @Crève!

Le 29/01/2021 à 18:23, Crève a dit :

 le poème d'Amanda Gorman, qui a été sélectionné pour inaugurer l'investiture de Joe Biden.

Biden a largement l ' âge de déléguer ses ambitions personnelles:-P 

Le 30/01/2021 à 09:13, Blaquière a dit :

 

and the norms and notions
of what just is
isn't always just-ice.

 

La justice glacée ?...

 

 

J'avoue être en peine sur la traduction de ce petit passage. Sans regarder une traduction ailleurs, j'aurais dit : "et les normes et les notions de ce qui est juste, ce n'est pas toujours figé".

Mais ailleurs sur le net, on peut trouver la traduction suivante : "Dans les normes et les notions de ce qui est juste n'est pas toujours la justice."

Ce qui laisse entendre qu'on a là peut-être un jeu de mots. Entre just-ice qui voudrait signifier justice et just-ICE qui voudrait dire... "figé" ? Je vais consulter des profs d'anglais. Tiens, pourriez-vous, vous aussi, de votre côté, vous m'avez dit que votre fils était prof d'anglais, lui demander son avis sur ce passage dont nous avons toutes les peines du monde à déchiffrer ?

@Blaquière