One of the most famous poems penned by the French poet Victor Hugo - it describes his feelings on the grave of his daughter Leopoldine. It was set to music - Demain, des l'aube It remains as intimate and haunting a portrayal of human grief as we can find in poetry. There is nothing like it before or since in French literature.
Demain, des l'aube, a l'heure ou blanchit la campagne,
Je partirai. Vois-tu, je sais que tu m'attends.
J'irai par la foret, j'irai par la montagne.
Je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps.
Je marcherai les yeux fixes sur mes pensees,
Sans rien voir au dehors, sans entendre aucun bruit,
Seul, inconnu, le dos courbe, les mains croisees,
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 bruyere en fleur.
Mine would be:
At dawn, when the light shines upon the fields,
I must go! You know my duty when you see me.
Through the forest and the mountain I walk.
From you, I will truly never remain away!
What is in my thoughts shows up in my eyes
There is silence; I see nothing outside of me
I'm lonely, broken with my hands behind my back
And the day remains as sad for me as the night.
The beautiful sunset - night overtakes it for me
Around me is dark mist sweeping in from Harfleur
When I come there, I shall arrange upon your grave
To place a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers.
No translation can do this beautiful poem true justice! I hope I have captured the feel of it and the feeling it embodies is even more important than the words themselves. Its a universal one.
Wikipedia adds:
In 1978 , French singer Henri Tachan poem set to music and the performer in a untitled album . Similarly, in 1998 , the French singer Pierre Perret in his album The beast is back, like Victor Hugo, it could be a tribute to his daughter, who died in 1995 . There are a great many other adaptations: Andrea Lindsay , Pierre Bensusan , Marc Robine , the kitschy , Elijah Semoun , etc..