A keresés eredménye

And then you came

Back then I was wandering from place to place,1
envious of the pigeons who knew where to nest.
I fell asleep on the grass in Henry IV2 square.
My roaring twenties sought I don't know what,
and when night came to take me in its arms,
I was afraid of my own shadow, and yet stood up magnificently to it.
 
And then you came
See, the world is in full bloom3
 
My only possessions were a pair of stockings,
a too long dress and the cat's basket
that I clasped to my heart like a tender rose.
I was conspicuously squandering my youth4
I was both the wine shoot and the fire in the heart,
that left a constant taste of ashes on my lips.
 
And then you came
See how my hands are shaking
 
I had lovers like you ride the subway
when you've had enough of waiting
for a cab in the street and, regardless of the weather,
I waited for them to fall asleep against me
then resumed my vagrant life5
Dawn dogs wandered behind me like a parade.
 
And then you came
See, nice weather, it's snowing
 
I don't know myself who I really was.
Whas I a fool or wise or both? I couldn't say,
what with me banging my clumsy wings around.
Still I know that today, with you,
I remained true to who I was before,
when my only wish was to be of some use.
 
Since you came,
see, everything is possible now.
 

• 1. 'clocher' is a church bell tower, but 'la cloche' means to live as vagrant. For some obscure reason, the bell is a symbol for vagrancy in French. Even 'clochard' (tramp) derives from it.
• 2. le Vert Galant was a nickname of French king Henry the 4th. There is a famous square with that name in Paris. 'vert galant' means something like 'old womanizer' so the line sounds like she would be a sugar daddy's girl while she actually just sleeps in a square
• 3. 'en gerbe' refers to harvested wheat tied in sheafs, but the idea is the same
• 4. 'beffroi'(belfry) is mostly there for the rhyme, but 'au beffroi' evokes a conspicuous attitude, like shouting something from the rooftops. The line can evoke two images based on two meanings of 'claquer', either 'burn through your money' or 'flap' like a flag. Either she dillapidated her youth (perched on a belfry!), or she was like a piece of laundry (hung from a belfry!) flapping aimlessly in the wind.
• 5. 'déménager à la cloche de bois' ('moving into the wooden bell inn') means living in the street.