French Poetry Translation Competition by #OxOnSong Project Winning Entries

The text to translate:

poem by Francis Jammes, which was set to music by Lili Boulanger.

Francis Jammes on a wooden chair holding a walking stick

Elle était descendue…

Elle était descendue au bas de la prairie,
et, comme la prairie était toute fleurie
de plantes dont la tige aime à pousser dans l’eau,
ces plantes inondées je les avais cueillies.
Bientôt, s’étant mouillée, elle gagna le haut
de cette prairie-là qui était toute fleurie.
Elle riait et s’ébrouait avec la grâce
dégingandée qu’ont les jeunes filles trop grandes.
Elle avait le regard qu’ont les fleurs de lavande.

17 and Under Winners

Winner: Phoebe Ali
Runner Up: Elizabeth Ogunde.

 

Runner Up: Elizabeth Ogunde.

She had come down...
She had come down, to the bottom of the meadow
And, as the meadow was completely covered in flowers
Whose stems like to grow in the water
These flooded plants I had picked.
Soon, being drenched, she gained the height
Of that completely flowered meadow.
She laughed and shook herself with gangly grace
Which the too tall young girls have.
She had the look of lavender flowers.

 

Winner: Phoebe Ali

She had gone down…
She had gone down to the bottom of the meadow,
and, as the meadow was all a-glowing
with plants who like to stem up from the water there,
these flooded flowers, I had gathered them up so.
And soon, becoming damp, she reached the top here–
the top of this meadow which was all a-glowing.
She laughed and shook herself with the gangling
grace of girls who are too tall for their youth.
She had the expression of the lavender blooms.

18 and over Winners

Winner: Leo Charlier 
2nd: Alexander Dawkins 
3rd: Amira Ramdani

 

3rd: Amira Ramdani

She’d gone down…
She’d gone down the end of the meadow,
and since the meadow was in full bloom
with flowers whose stems in water like to grow,
those flooded flowers I had picked.
Soon, moistened, she reached the summit
of that meadow that was in full bloom.
Laughing and panting with the lanky grace
of young girls grown too tall,
she had the look of lavender flowers.

 

2nd: Alexander Dawkins 

She’d gone to the bottom of the flow’ry meadow,
That meadow all in flower,
With plants who like to grow their stems in the water, the water of that land
Those plants, drowned in the water, I went and I picked them.
And soon, she was soaked through
So back she came, atop, she came atop the meadow,
That meadow all in flower.
Oh how she laughed, oh how she shook,
With all the grace, that gangling grace
Of those girls who grow too tall
She looked just like a flower, she was like lavender.

 

Winner: Leo Charlier 

She had gone down to the bottom of the meadow,
and, as the meadow was all in bloom
with plants with water-loving stems,
these submerged plants I had gathered.
Soon, having become wet, she reached the top
of that meadow all in bloom.
Laughing, she wrung herself dry
with the gangly grace of young girls grown too tall.
She had the gaze of lavender flowers.