Anacaona la reine,
Voyant que le ciel est pur,
Qu’un souffle berce la plaine,
Que la lune dans l’azur
Se perd ; voyant sur la grève
La mer que nul vent ne soulève
Mourir tranquille et sans voix [...]
La reine Anacaona ;
Soir voluptueux, les brises,
Des senteurs les plus exquises
Parfument Xaragua.
Un extrait de « Floranna la Fiancée » de C. Ardouin (Morpeau 53).
Anacaona, golden skin, india, cacique
Heaven’s azure, thy charms pure do display
Thy scent the Sea of Caribe.
Ay de mi, ay de mi, ay de mi.
Not a rustle of the feather,
the feather cloak of the sea, of the sea, of the sea;
silent, abandoned, Anacaona.
Ay de mi, ay de mi, ay de mi.
The caress of an exquisite breeze
hints of the unspoken plea unheeded, of the captive Anacaona.
Ay de mi, ay de mi, ay de mi.
And the sea never rises nor whimpers a sigh,
Not of thee, not of thee, not of thee.
Taino queen of the stolen, of the stolen and the lost Ay-ti
Lost and alone Anacaona, ay de mi, ay de mi, ay de mi.
Original poem inspired by Ardouin’s vision of Anacoana composed by Daniel Buchwald, 2022
Image of sea by Martin Falbisoner courtesy of Creative Commons license.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caribbean_Sea_-_Long_Exposure.jpg