by
Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)
Midnight on the Great Western
Language: English
In the third-class seat sat the journeying boy,
And the roof-lamp's oily flame
Played down on his listless form and face,
Bewrapt past knowing to what he was going,
Or whence he came.
In the band of his hat the journeying boy
Had a ticket stuck; and a string
Around his neck bore the key of his box,
That twinkled gleams of the lamp's sad beams
Like a living thing.
What past can be yours, O journeying boy
Towards a world unknown,
Who calmly, as if incurious quite
On all at stake, can undertake
This plunge alone?
Knows your soul a sphere, O journeying boy,
Our rude realms far above,
Whence with spacious vision you mark and mete
This region of sin that you find you in,
But are not of?
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Christopher Park) , "À minuit, sur le Great Western", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 131
À minuit, sur le Great Western
Language: French (Français) after the English
Un jeune voyageur était assis en troisième classe
Et la flamme huileuse de la lampe du plafond
Jouait sur sa forme et son visage apathique,
Enveloppé par le fait de ne pas savoir où il allait,
Ni d'où il venait.
Dans le bandeau de son chapeau, le garçon voyageur
avait un billet fiché, et sur une ficelle
Autour de son cou, la clé de son coffre,
qui scintillait aux tristes rayons de la lampe.
comme une chose vivante.
Quel passé peut être le tien, ô garçon voyageur ?
Vers un monde inconnu,
Qui calmement, comme s’il était indifférent
À tout ce qui est en jeu, peut entreprendre
ce plongeon seul ?
Ton âme connait-elle une sphère, ô garçon voyageur,
Bien au-dessus de nos rudes royaumes,
D'où, d’un vaste regard, tu marques et mesures
Ce monde de péché où tu te trouves,
mais dont tu n'es pas issu ?
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2022 by Christopher Park, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2022-06-26
Line count: 20
Word count: 145
