To the Paris Victims

 
Knowing Why

Like shots at night, abruptly, you are gone:

Bouffard, San Marin, Ciprian, Dias–

To mouth your names can never call you back.

You who have gone away and cannot say–

DuBois, Garrido, Innocenti, Dramp—

Why we still live, and love, when you must die,

Why I should live who love the music hall,

Like you, or café’s laughter, so I cry–

Moulin, Proisy, Perez, and Guyomard.

Tell me, monstrous twisted soul, tell my why,

Little man, I did not fall to your big gun

Like Merlin, Mosser, Saadi, and Salines.

No, I will not live by chance, be pardoned,

Because you do not creep into my light,

Who live to snuff the light and human smiles

Of Fosse, Solesin, Prevost, Lellouche.

Yes, I would kill you and rejoice to die,

My blood for yours–my love for hate—knowing why.

Translated into French by Sita Horninge, who is fluent in English, French, Dutch and German.

 
En sachant pourquoi

Comme des coups de feu dans la nuit, abruptement, vous êtes partis:
Bouffard, San Marin, Ciprian, Dias—
A voix basse vos noms ne pourront jamais vous rappeler.
Vous qui êtes partis et ne pourront dire—
DuBois, Garrido, Innocenti, Dramp—
Pourquoi vivons nous toujours, et aimons, alors que vous avez dû mourir,
Pourquoi devrais-je vivre, moi qui aime les music-halls,
Comme vous, ou les éclats de rire au café, alors je pleure—
Moulin, Proisy, Perez, et Guyomard.

Dis moi, monstrueuse âme tordue, dis moi pourquoi,
Petit homme, je ne suis pas tombé sous tes balles
Comme Merlin, Mosser, Saadi, et Salines.
Non je ne vivrai pas par chance, soit gracié
Car tu n’occultes pas ma lumière,
Vous qui vivez pour faire disparaitre la lumière et les sourires
De Fosse, Solesin, Prevost, Lellouche.
Oui, je vous tuerai et me réjouirai de votre mort,
Mon sang pour le vôtre—mon amour contre la haine—en sachant pourquoi.

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About the Author: Walter Donway

Walter Donway has written and edited for Savvy Street since its inception in 2014. His essays and interpretative commentaries on breakthrough books have dealt with philosophy, politics, literature, science, history, psychology, and personalities. His new novel, "Retaking College Hill,” became Amazon’s #1 bestseller in political fiction. This year, the Atlas Society published his Pocket Guide to The Fountainhead and Romanticism Reborn--essays on the Romantic movement in literature and its 20th Century revival in Ayn Rand's novels. His collections of essays and short stories and his "Collected Poems" are available on Amazon. He lives in East Hampton with his wife, Robin.