A beautifully miserable French poem for a rainy Fall day…

English: Autumn fallen leaves of Zelkova serrata 日本語: 枯葉 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chanson d’automne

Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l’automne
Blessent mon coeur
D’une langueur
Monotone.

Tout suffocant
Et blême, quand
Sonne l’heure,
Je me souviens
Des jours anciens
Et je pleure

Et je m’en vais
Au vent mauvais
Qui m’emporte
Deçà, delà,
Pareil à la
Feuille morte.

Paul Verlaine

I’m researching WW2 for a children’s book. Radio Londres broadcast the first stanza of this poem as a signal to the French Resistance that the D-Day landings would begin in 24 hours. I couldn’t help but think, how very French, to open a military campaign with poetry.