Sunday 1 December 2013

Pénélope -liberation of a woman alone


In this song, the “Penelope” mainly in Brassens’ mind is not the virtuous wife of Ulysses in the legend but the middle class wife, trapped by a rigid social code in a marriage gone stale.  Brassens suspects however that she might, on the quiet, get private relief through the sensual flights of imagination, often involuntary, which must occur to her.   These are able to give her an exhilarating freedom and offer her consolation away from the control of anyone else.  The theme is much the same as that in “Fernande” and as it is the female version, perhaps the great singer Barbara can best convey its undertones.





Penelope



Toi, l'épouse modèle, le grillon du foyer(2),
Toi, qui n'as point d'accrocs dans ta rob' de mariée,
Toi, l'intraitable Pénélope,
En suivant ton petit bonhomme de bonheur(3),
Ne berces-tu jamais en tout bien tout honneur
De jolies pensées interlopes(4)?
De jolies pensées interlopes...




Derrière tes rideaux, dans ton juste milieu(5),

En attendant l'retour d'un Ulyss' de banlieue,
Penchée sur tes travaux de toile(6),
Les soirs de vague à l'âme et de mélancolie
N'as tu jamais en rêve au ciel d'un autre lit
Compté de nouvelles étoiles(7)?
Compté de nouvelles étoiles...




N'as-tu jamais encore appelé de tes voeux

L'amourette qui passe, qui vous prend aux cheveux ?
Qui vous conte des bagatelles,
Qui met la marguerite au jardin potager(8),
La pomme défendue aux branches du verger,
Et le désordre à vos dentelles?
Et le désordre à vos dentelles...







N'as-tu jamais souhaité de revoir en chemin
Cet ange, ce démon, qui, son arc à la main,
Décoche des flèches malignes,
Qui rend leur chair de femme aux plus froides statues,
Les bascul' de leur socle, bouscule leur vertu,
Arrache leur feuille de vigne(9)?
Arrache leur feuille de vigne...





N'aie crainte que le Ciel ne t'en tienne rigueur,
Il n'y a vraiment pas là de quoi fouetter un cœur(10)
Qui bat la campagne et galope (10)!
C'est la faute commune et le péché véniel(11),
C'est la face cachée de la lune de miel(12)
Et la rançon de Pénélope,

Et la rançon de Pénélope.



You the model wife, domestic paragon,
You who have no snags at all in your bridal gown
You, the intractable Penelope,
At your little fellow’s beck and call
Don’t you ever cradle in all honesty
Some pretty thoughts that just sneak in

Some pretty thoughts that just sneak in





Behind your curtains in your so correct world,
Waiting for suburban Ulysses’ return,
While engrossed in your needlework,
On evenings of emptiness and brooding
Have you ever, in dreams, on top a different bed
Counted stars quite novel to you?
Counted stars quite novel to you?





Have you never called out to the object of

Your desires, who chances by, grabs you by the hair?
Who tells you some sweet nothings,
Who puts the wild daisy in the kitchen garden,
Puts the forbidden fruit onto  the orchard boughs
And gets your lace garments all tangled up
And gets your lace garments all tangled up.



Have you never wished to bump into again
That angel, that demon, who his bow in hand,
Fires some cunning arrows
Who restores their woman's flesh to coldest statues
Rocks them from their pedestal, topples their virtue,
Snatches off  their figleaf’s cover?
Snatches off their figleaf’s cover?





Have no fear that heaven might hold you to account
There’s really nothing over which to   lash a heart 
That is led astray and goes wild
It’s a common failing, merely venial sin
It’s the hidden side of the honeyed moon
And the ransom of Penelope 

And the ransom of Penelope.



Georges Brassens - 1960 - Le mécréant


Translation notes 


1)      Pénélope – In greek mythology, Penelope is the wife of Odyseus (Ulysses in the Latin legend). After his victory in Troy, Ulysses’s journey home was constantly delayed and other men assuming his death, courted Penelope.  She resisted all pressure and remained faithful to Ulysses.  She has become the symbol of the ever-faithful wife.


2)       Grillon du foyer –The tiny chimney cricket lived in the ash of the wide chimneys of olden times  its chirping was believed to be a sign of good luck and happiness in that household. The perfect wife in the poem is the representation of the same.


3)      En suivant ton petit bonhomme de bonheur,  This phrase tells us that she was happy to take a subservient role letting her husband take the lead.


4)      De jolies pensées interlopes? – Interlope comes from the English word « interloper”, which is some-one who enters secretly, illicitly and is unwelcome


5)       Juste milieu.  There could be two meanings for milieu.  Firstly it could mean her sense of moderation.  I have chosen a second meaning of «  le milieu social ».  The setting is behind the discreetly closed curtains of a middle class suburban home.


6)       Penchée sur tes travaux de toile – In the 1930s and 1940s, conscientious wives would spend a lot of time sewing, repairing and making clothes and furnishings.  The relevance to Penelope is that she made her sewing an excuse for refusing the proposals of her many suitors, saying that she had first to complete the sewing othe shroud she was making for her elderly father-in- law- and she was careful to make very slow progress


7)      Compté de nouvelles étoiles?  Compter les étoiles – In the dictionary,  le Littré, we read that «  Compter les étoiles » means to waste your time on an unprodutive remote task.   In this poem, the stars were on the canopy over the bed that she shared with her husband and her conventional sexual routine was performed lying on her back looking up, counting the stars and paying little attention to what was happening to her down below. 


8)      Qui met la marguerite au jardin potager, - In his song « La non-demande en mariage », Brassens once again associates the daisy and domestic life:
A aucun prix moi je ne veux
Effeuiller dans le pot-au-feu la marguerite.
The daisy is the symbol of love and the vegetable garden is the symbol of domesticity and the home.  The context of both poems is extramarital relationship.



9)      Arrache leur feuille de vigne? – In English we talk of the fig-leaves and in French of the vine-leaves, which were superimposed on works of art out of prudery, when the artist had depicted sexual parts. 


10)  Here we have a contraction of two expressions (a): "il n'y a pas de quoi fouetter un chat" which means that it is something of no great importance and (b) "un esprit qui bat la campagne" which means a mind that gets misled by unreasonable arguments.


11)  C'est la faute commune et le péché véniel, - These are minor sins as defined in the Catholic Church.  According to Catholic doctrine, people who die while burdened with mortal sin will be sent to burn forever in Hell.   
    However, Brassens advises his Penelope, that her temptation would not be a mortal sin.   The creation of naughty fantasies in the mind, with no intention of actual deeds with another person are classed by the Church as « Sins of the mind ». and these are normally treated as venial sins, which implies excusable sins.


12)   C'est la face cachée de la lune de miel – I am not sure whether, in English, we have any picture of an actual moon when we talk about the honeymoon.   In French there seems to be an awareness of moon + honey, so that Brassens can make this image of the visible side of the moon and the dark side of the moon, representing our public lives and the private lives of our thoughts and imaginings. It cannot surprise us that Brassens, the great libertarian is making the case, in this song, that prisoners of circumstance, symbolised by Penelope, should be allowed to soar totally free in their personal space.



Footnote - from the newspapers



In the week when I was translating this poem, a survey was published, which stated  that couples in relationships had less sex than couples used to have 20 years ago.  The Times columnist, Janice Turner, in her article on November 28th 2013, commented on these findings, and in her last paragraph suggested an explanation of private sex that seemed to be relevant to this poem.  She wrote:

Modern couples are exhausted, working on their laptops and smart phones, claims the study. Or maybe with their shiny devices, high-speed broadband and websites for the most specialised peccadillos, they have sex, just on their own.

A Times photo of Janice Turner




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Monday 23 September 2013

Au bois de mon coeur - the opening sequence of a film

This is a song that Brassens wrote for “Porte des Lilas” the only film that he ever acted in. René Clair directed the film and in the You Tube clip that I have posted after the text of the song we see its opening sequence. The words of the song had no connection with the plot of the film except for the mention of flowers.

This is another of Brassens songs, where he pays tribute to the circle of buddies who support him throughout life. Their friendship is tireless, undemanding and endless. Sentimentality is destroyed by Brassens’ humour: he says that his friends embellish his life just as the flowers embellish the various woods around Paris. – the analogy between his sturdy friends and little flowers is deliberately incongruous. His choice of situations to illustrate when they have been faithfully at his side is also not too serious- at his many marriages and his many deaths!



Au bois de mon cœur
Au bois d' Clamart y' a des petit's fleurs,
Y' a des petit's fleurs,
Y' a des copains au, au bois d' mon coeur,
Au, au bois d' mon coeur.
Au fond de d' ma cour j' suis renommé,
Au fond de d' ma cour j' suis renommé,
J'suis renommé
Pour avoir le coeur mal famé,
Le coeur mal famé.

Au bois d' Vincennes, y' a des petit's fleurs,
Y' a des petit's fleurs,
Y' a des copains au, au bois d' mon coeur,
Au, au bois d' mon coeur.
 Quand y' a plus d' vin dans mon tonneau,
Quand y' a plus d' vin dans mon tonneau,
Dans mon tonneau,
Ils n'ont pas peur de boir' mon eau,
De boire mon eau.

 Au bois d' Saint-Cloud y' a des petit's fleurs,
Y' a des petit's fleurs,
Y' a des copains au, au bois d' mon coeur,
Au, au bois d' mon coeur.
Ils m'accompagnent à la mairie,
Ils m'accompagnent à la mairie,
À la mairie,
Chaque fois que je me marie,
Que je me marie.

Au bois d' Meudon y' a des petit's fleurs,
Y' a des petit's fleurs,
Y' a des copains au, au bois d' mon coeur,
Au, au bois d' mon coeur.
Chaqu' fois qu' je meurs, fidèlement
33Chaqu' fois qu' je meurs, fidèlement
Fidèlement
Ils suivent mon enterrement,
Mon enterrement.
Des petites fleurs
Des petites fleurs
Au, au bois d' mon coeur...
Au, au bois d' mon coeur...

1957 - Je me suis fait tout petit,

Down in the woods of my heart
In the woods of Clamart are little flowers,
There are little flowers.
There are good mates in the woods of my heart,
In the woods of my heart
Down in my backyard, I am  well-known,
Down in my backyard, I am  well-known,
I am most well-known
For having an infamous heart,
An infamous heart.

In the woods of Vincennes are little flowers,
There are little flowers,
There are good mates in the woods of my heart,
In the woods of my heart.
When there’s no wine left in my barrel,
When there’s no wine left in my barrel,
In my barrel,
They are not scared to drink my water,
To drink my water.

In the woods of Saint-Cloud are little flowers,
There are little flowers,
There are good mates in the woods of my heart,
In the woods of my heart
They go off with me to the town-hall,
They go off with me to the town-hall,
Go to the town-hall,
Each time that I get myself wed,
I get myself wed.

In the woods of  Meudon are little flowers,
There are little flowers,
There are good mates in the woods of my heart,
In the woods of my heart.
Each time that I die, faithfully
Each time that I die, faithfully
So faithfully
They are there at my funeral,
At my funeral.
Some little flowers,
Some little flowers,
In the woods of my heart.
In the woods of my heart.

This is the clip from the film:



  Appearing with Georges Brassens in the bar are;  Pierre Brasseur as the drunkard, Raymond Buissières, as the barman, and the half Vietnamese actress, Dany Carrel, peeps in as the pretty barmaid.

Footnote

Some commentators assume that the little flowers that Brassens describes in the woods of Paris are hookers.  Historians have corrected them by noting that it was a number of years after the date of the song that the Paris woods became the haunts of prostitutes.  



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Monday 2 September 2013

Le cocu- a plea for consideration for the man who has to share the wife he loves.



In this song, Brassens describes the hurt and cruel humiliation suffered by a husband when his wife insists on continuing her sexually free lifestyle after their marriage. 

We might doubt the sincerity of the indignation that Brassens shows as he frankly admitted his preference for the freedom from commitment which affairs with married women permitted him.  He said that Parisian women offered a wealth of opportunity and he himself made cuckolds of numerous husbands, most prominently, of his host, Marcel Planche. 
  
However, Brassens felt that this arrangement of three and more in a marriage, however convenient and even normal, should be conducted with discretion, while showing the utmost consideration to the husband.  In this poem, he condemns those who fail to do this as ignorant, self-centered boors.



Le cocu


Comme elle n'aime pas beaucoup la solitude,
Cependant que je pêche et que je m'ennoblis(1),
Ma femme sacrifie à(2) sa vieille habitude
De faire à tout venant les honneurs de mon lit
De faire à tout venant les honneurs de mon lit.


Eh ! oui, je suis cocu, j'ai du cerf sur la tête(3),
On fait force de trous (4)dans ma lune de miel,
Ma bien-aimée ne m'invite plus à la fête
Quand ell' va faire un tour jusqu'au septième ciel
Quand ell' va faire un tour jusqu'au septième ciel.

Au péril de mon cœur, la malheureuse écorne(5)
Le pacte conjugal et me le déprécie,
Que je ne sache plus où donner de la corne(6)
Semble bien être le cadet de ses soucis
Semble bien être le cadet de ses soucis.

Les galants de tout poil viennent boire en mon verre,
Je suis la providence des écornifleurs(7),
On cueille dans mon dos(8) la tendre primevère (9)
Qui tenait le dessus de mon panier(10) de fleurs.
Qui tenait le dessus de mon panier de fleurs.


En revenant fourbu de la pêche à la ligne,
Je les surprends tout nus dans leurs débordements.
Conseillez-leur le port de la feuille de vigne(11),
Ils s'y refuseront avec entêtement
Ils s'y refuseront avec entêtement.




Souiller mon lit nuptial, est-c'que ça les empêche
De garder les dehors de la civilité ?
Qu'on me demande au moins si j'ai fait bonne pêche,
Qu'on daigne s'enquérir enfin de ma santé.

Qu'on daigne s'enquérir enfin de ma santé !



De grâce, un minimum d'attentions délicates
Pour ce pauvre mari qu'on couvre de safran(12) !

Le cocu, d'ordinaire, on le choie, on le gâte,
On est en fin de compte un peu de ses parents
On est en fin de compte un peu de ses parents

À l'heure du repas, mes rivaux détestables
Ont encor' ce toupet de lorgner ma portion !
Ça leur ferait pas peur de s'asseoir à ma table.
Cocu tant qu'on voudra, mais pas amphitryon(13)
Cocu tant qu'on voudra, mais pas amphitryon.


Partager sa moitié(14), est-c'que cela comporte
Que l'on partage aussi la chère et la boisson(15)

Je suis presque obligé de les mettre à la porte,
Et bien content s'ils n'emportent pas mes poissons
Et bien content s'ils n'emportent pas mes poissons.



Bien content qu'en partant ces mufles ne s'égarent
Pas à mettre le comble à leur ignominie
En sifflotant "Il est cocu, le chef de gare...(16) "
Parc' que, le chef de gar', c'est mon meilleur ami(17)
Parc' que, le chef de gar', c'est mon meilleur ami.



(1958 - Le pornographe, 9)

As she doesn’t much like being on her own Whilst I’m off on my noble pastime of fishing
My wife devotes herself to her previous habit
Of granting all comers the honours of my bed
Of granting all comers the honours of my bed


Ah ! Yes, I’m a cuckold, I’ve antlers on my head, Men pepper illicit holes in my honeymoon.
My love invites me to the party no longer
When she’s going on a trip to seventh heaven
When she’s going on a trip to seventh heaven


Hazarding my heart, the unfortunate girl breaks
The conjugal pact and just laughs it off to me.
That I’m now being driven off my antlered head
Seems clearly to be the least of her worries
Seems clearly to be the least of her worries


All kinds of would-be lovers come drink from my glass
I am the god-send for the sneaks who come sniffing 
They pluck behind my back the tender primula Which had  pride of place in my bouquet of flowers
Which had pride of place in my bouquet of flowers.



On returning dead beat from long hours of angling
I surprise them stark naked in their excesses
Advise them to cover themselves with a fig-leaf
They will refuse to do in the most stubborn way.
They will refuse to do in the most stubborn way.


To defile my marriage bed, is that what stops them
From preserving the trappings of civility?
Let them ask me at least if the fishing went well.
Let them deign to enquire how I have been keeping!
Let them deign to enquire how I have been keeping!


For pity’s sake display a minimum of thought
For this poor husband whom they smother in saffron !
The cuckold normally is pampered, he is spoilt For we are, after all, in one way, related.
For we are, after all, in one way, related.


When mealtimes approach, my detestable rivals
Have the cheek furthermore to eye my helping
They would have no qualms at sitting at my table
Cuckold as much as you like but not amphitryon
Cuckold as much as you like but not amphitryon



To share one’s better half, does that really entail That you share food and drink at your table as well
I am almost forced to throw them out of the house
And am so pleased if they don’t run off with my fish.
And am so pleased if they don’t run off with my fish.



I'm pleased that on leaving these oafs don’t go so far
As to stretch their ignominy to its limit
By whistling “He’s a cuckold the stationmaster » 
Because, the stationmaster, he’s my very best friend
Because, the stationmaster, he’s my very best friend




TRANSLATION NOTES
1)      je m'ennoblis  - French commentators disagree about how he ennobles himself by fishing

2)      Ma femme sacrifie à – Brassens often uses the verb "sacrifier" with the preposition « à » with the meaning of « to devote oneself to » and there is often as here a sexual connotation.

3)      je suis cocu, j'ai du cerf sur la tête – In France, the very well-known symbol of a cuckold is the wearing of deer’s antlers on the head,  Once again French commentators dispute the source of this association.  One suggestion that fits quite neatly is based on the legend of the Celtic god , Cernunnos.  He represented fertility and wore deers’ antlers.  He was the husband of the goddess “Earth”, who was unfaithful to him on numerous occasions.

4)      On fait force de trous – The Le Littré dictionary says : faire un trou à la lune veut dire s'enfuir de nuit pour une mauvaise affaire.  The idea is of a furtive, wicked act.


5)      la malheureuse écorne – “écorner” means to damage by chipping away at. Brassens chooses the word because it contains the word “corne” – horn – thus damage by cucoldry


6)      Que je ne sache plus où donner de la corne – There is a French expression : "ne plus savoir où donner de la tête" which means that you are overwhelmed by events.  In this case the head is wearing horns.

7)      la providence des écornifleurs – Larousse says that un écornifleur is a pique-assiette – some-one who pinches the meals of others. The elements of the word seem to fit the particular misdeed in question here – “écorner” discussed above and “renifler” to sniff.

8)      On cueille dans mon dos – « faire quelque chose dans/ derrière le dos de quelqu’un » means to do something  behind someone’s back.

9)  la tendre primevère- A primevère is a primula or primrose- a spring flower symbolizing young romance.  Brassens uses this image in other songs with strong sexual connotations

10) le dessus du panier – the pick of the bunch, (sociological sense) – the social crust.

(11)  le port de la feuille de vigne,-. Brassens is amused to make a passing reference to the campaign of prudery by the Church. When Michaelangelo and others had adorned the palatial cathedrals with their art, they had included grand naked figures in the tradition of the art of Ancient Greece. As a result,  the nominally celibate dignitaries of the Church, found themselves processing under an array of penises, pudenda, buttocks and breasts. During the Counter-Reformation, in the mid C16th, the Councils of Trent forbade this sexual depiction in church art. For paintings, the offending body parts were obscured by adding bits of drapery and foliage, but the only way of doing it on statues was by attaching fig leaves. The cover-up, involving the defacement and destruction of artistic masterpieces, went on for the next 450 years.

12)  Couvrir de safran – In France, yellow is the colour that represents deceived husbands and so "accommoder son mari au safran" means to have adultery.

13)  Amphitryon – In Greek mythology, he was the son son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns. During his absence, his wife, Alcmene, became pregnant by Zeus, who had disguised himself .  When her husband returned, she became pregnant again by him and from these unions twin boys were born. Brassens is exploiting two ideas from this story: the adultery and a guest who abuses the hospitality of his host, eating his food.

14)  Partager sa moitié – As in English e.g. “my better half”, « moitié »  is used humorously to mean « wife »

15)  la chère et la boisson – La chère means food as in the English « good cheer », which means food and drink.  Perhaps Brassens also wanted the second meaning: “the dear girl.”

16)  "Il est cocu, le chef de gare..- This is a famous French popular song on the subject of cuckoldry.  The stationmaster is busy all hours of the day and night, being important on the platform in his official uniform. All this time, his wife is free to enjoy herself with whichever men sneak into her bed.

17)  le chef de gar', c'est mon meilleur ami – Although this verse is flippant, it seems to be a psychological truth that we are often more upset to see another person in the same predicament than we are for ourselves.  Perhaps this is because in our own case, elements of self-blame come into play.  The man describing his unhappy situation in this song probably realizes that in spite of her outrageous behaviour, he is still in love with the girl and the one outcome that he cannot contemplate is losing her.  His humiliation is thus his painful choice.






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