Mes poèmes préférés

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago
In a kingdom by the sea
That a maiden there lived, whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child
In this kingdom by the sea
But we loved with a love that was more than love
I and my Annabel Lee
With a love that winged seraphs in Heaven
Coveted her and me.

This was the reason that, long ago
In this kingdom by the sea
The winds blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The Angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me
Yes! That was the reason (as all men know
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of a cloud by night
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love, it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we,
Of many far wiser than we
And neither the Angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of my beautiful Annabel Lee.
And so, all the nighttide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling! My darling, my life and my bride.
In her sepulchre, there by the sea,
In her tomb, by the side of the sea.

Edgar Allan Poe

Annabel Lee

C'était il y a longtemps, très longtemps,
Dans un royaume au bord de l'océan,
y vivait une vierge que vous pourriez connaître
Du nom d'Annabel Lee;
Cette vierge vivait sans autre pensée
Que de m'aimer et d'être mon aimée.

Elle était une enfant et j'étais un enfant,
Dans ce royaume au bord de l'océan,
Mais nous aimions d'un amour
qui était plus que de l'amour
Moi et mon Annabel Lee,
D'un amour tel que les séraphins du Ciel
Nous jalousaient elle et moi.

Et c'est pourquoi, il y a longtemps,
Dans ce royaume au bord de l'océan,
Les vents firent éclater un nuage et glacèrent
Ma toute belle Annabel Lee ;
Si bien que ses nobles parents sont venus
Et l'ont emportée loin de moi
Pour l'enfermer dans un tombeau
Dans ce royaume au bord de l'océan.

Les anges, loin d'être aussi heureux que nous au Ciel,
Nous envièrent elle et moi :
Oui ! C'est pour cela (comme chacun le sait
Dans ce royaume au bord de l'océan)
Qu'une nuit le vent surgit d'un nuage
Et glaça, et tua mon Annabel Lee.

Mais notre amour était beaucoup plus fort que l'amour
De nos aînés, de bien des personnes
Beaucoup plus sages que nous,
Et jamais les anges du Ciel là-haut
Ni les démons au fin fond de l'océan
Ne pourront séparer mon âme de l'âme
De ma toute belle Annabel Lee.

Car la lune ne luit jamais, sans qu'elle me porte
Des rêves d'Annabel Lee, la toute belle,
Et les étoiles ne se lèvent jamais, sans que je sente
Les yeux vifs d'Annabel Lee, ma toute belle,
Ainsi, aux rives de la nuit, je me couche à côté
De ma chérie! Ma chérie, ma vie, ma promise,
Dans son tombeau, là, au bord de l'océan,
Dans sa tombe, à côté de l'océan.

Edgar Allan Poe

Trad. Roseau

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in 1809. He was the son of itinerant actors who died before Poe was three years old. He then became the ward (pupille) of a Virginia couple called the Allans, whose name he added to his own. He studied at the University of Virginia, but his love of drinking and gambling made his stay there short lived. He then enlisted (enrôler) in the Army and served soberly from 1827 to 1829. In 1830 Poe was accepted into West Point, but he ruined his chances there as well with more drinking. In 1836 he married his cousin, thirteen year old Virginia Clemm, and tried to support her by writing and editing. He was editor of the Richmond Southern Literary Messenger, as well as a few others, and published his own magazine for a while called The Stylus. He won many literary prized early in his career, but he made little money, and his alcoholism cost him many jobs in journalism. His wife died in 1847, and he then became engaged to a wealthy widow. In 1849, while traveling to meet the widow, he met some friends and went out drinking with them. He was later found unconscious in a Baltimore street and died a few days later (1849).
Source : http://www.edgar-allan-poe.com

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