Success in Stephen Spender Poetry in Translation Competition

Congratulations to Winnie D, Year 11, who was commended in the 2024 Schools Laureate Prize Award for her sensitive translation of and creative response to Victor Hugo’s poem Demain dès l’aube from French – this is an excellent achievement in what is now a global competition. Please click on the links to enjoy Winnie’s work.

Translation

Original Text (French)

Demain, dès l’aube, à l’heure où blanchit la campagne,
Je partirai. Vois-tu, je sais que tu m’attends.
J’irai par la forêt, j’irai par la montagne.
Je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps.

Je marcherai les yeux fixés sur mes pensées,
Sans rien voir au dehors, sans entendre aucun bruit,
Seul, inconnu, le dos courbé, les mains croisées,
Triste, et le jour pour moi sera comme la nuit.

Je ne regarderai ni l’or du soir qui tombe,
Ni les voiles au loin descendant vers Harfleur,
Et quand j’arriverai, je mettrai sur ta tombe
Un bouquet de houx vert et de bruyère en fleur.

Translation (English)

Tomorrow, when the light of day first brightens the land,
I’ll leave, knowing you are waiting for me.
I shall go through forests and cross mountains,
For I cannot stand to be apart from you any longer.

I will walk, my eyes fixed solely on my thoughts,
Blind to the outside world, not hearing a sound.
Alone, unknown, hunch-backed, my hands clasped tightly together,
So sad, that day is synonymous to night.

I shall not heed the falling gold of sunset,
Nor the distant sails, descending upon Harfleur.
And when I do arrive, on thy grave I will lay,
A posy of green holly and sweet heather abloom.

Creative Writing Response

Patiently I wait, wondering when you will join me so we may finally rest together.
I try not to think about the life you are leading without me, the smiles I will have missed, the jokes I would have laughed at.

I recall the way your eyes, though glazed with tears, shone when we were united as one on our wedding day. Fondly, I remember the times my soul felt whole before it was ripped in half when I left you

I mourn for you in the same way you have mourned me all these years. My phantom tears water the earth around me, exactly how your tears stained the holly on my favourite dress you clutched as I began to drift away.

But still I wait, so we may finally enter the gates of heaven united again as one.