L'Orange
Jean-Baptiste CHENET
L'Orange
Fruit succulent que mon palais savoure,
Toi qu’une couche d’or entoure,
Parny mieux que moi t’a chanté.
L’arbre élégant à la sombre verdure,
Des Indes ici transplanté,
De nos vergers enrichit la parure.
Quand l'étoile du jour sur l’oranger trempé,
Surprend la perle qui s’exhale,
Quand le soleil a dissipé
La brume triste et matinale,
Le rossignol, de son chant occupé,
L’air embaumé par la fleur virginale,
Me rencontrent assis sous ton feuillage épais
Savourant cette odeur que chasse le vent frais.
Poem by Jean-Baptiste Chenet
(anthologized in Berrou 91)
The Orange
Succulent fruit that my palate savors,
A fair golden coat borders your flavors,
Praised better than I by Parny*.
The elegant tree with dark greenery,
Transported here from the Indies,
Our orchards enrich the finery.
When the morning star greets the orange tree soaked,
Surprises the pearl that radiates so soon,
When the sun has cloaked
The sad mist of forenoon,
The nightingale, busy singing unprovoked,
The air scented by a virginal flower of June,
Meets me seated under the thick foliage just so
Savoring the perfume chased by the winds
that blow.
*Translator’s Note: Evariste de Parny was a French poet born in what is now La Réunion
Translation by Elena Marcato, 2022
Page Image: Orange Tree Branch photographed by Muffet. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Orange_tree_branch.jpg
L’orange - Jean-Baptiste Chenet.m4a