Sunday, January 27, 2013

Le Destin : Destiny Will Deliver Us

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Que l'on se montre ou se cache
Que l'on soit faible or fort
Le Destin nous arrache
Et nous livre à la Mort
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Whether we show ourselves or we hide
Whether we are weak or strong
Destiny will tear us away
And deliver us unto Death
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Seen in a cemetery north of Paris in the Oise. Hard to argue with logic like that.
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13 comments:

Lynne with an e said...

L'image dit tout ce qu'il y a à dire.

Steve said...

Remins me of that Old Testament story of the guy who tried to avoid death but no matter he travelled to a different place than he was supposed to death found him.

Springman said...

Mr. Owen,
So good to see you out and about this weekend and many thanks for stopping by The Pine River Review.
How I love a good proverb…and your translation is as exquisite as it is thought provoking. Interesting, the capitalization of “MORT.” Is it meant to be a shout as it would be in the texting universe? So much emphasis is placed on death, as if it had something tangible to teach us. I wonder.

"La mort n'a peut-être pas plus de secrets à nous révéler que la vie?"

Or reduced to English…"Perhaps death has no more secrets to reveal to us than does life"

I do admire the porcelain image of the suave young man so full of confidence. The wisp of smoke from his cigarette makes your presentation all the more poignant. Am I allowed to say, “You’ve a lovely grave Sir.” Perhaps not, but safe to say, we don’t bury them like we used to.

English Rider said...

I feel as though the concluding lines are missing: "So show yourself, and be strong..."

Oakland Daily Photo said...

Touching photo. A man once alive and vibrant; now dust and forgotten. We may not be able to control our destiny, but we all certainly know what it is.

Amanda Summer said...

very hard to argue indeed. powerful words that shake one wide awake.

Catherine said...

and that photo is quite literally being torn away too - what an evocative image in words and pictures...

Anonymous said...

The road to life
has its end
And while we like life
It is on death we depend.

Nice photo find.

Adam said...

So that's where they got the pitch for the Final Destination series of films...

The Sagittarian said...

Great pic as usual, preceded with even more excellent prose! A visit here never disappoints, dear BrOwen!
I have recently located the gravesite of my great grandparents and have been cleaning it up etc, which has afforded me a good opportunity to wander about the other sites/plots - you should come and take photos of some down here! The cemetaries are all still rather forlorn looking, I guess with so many gravesites toppled and heaved upwards and sideways over the past 2 years it is hard for families to get on with it all.

James said...

Chacun est ne pas le maître de son propre destin?

Nice find!

Plum' said...

Vanitas vanitatum...
Bises

The Poet Laura-eate said...

Beautiful photograph of the young man. Decomposing in its own right. How very haunting.