I love the poem because it's about a time of the year which is imbued with emotional significance. In this way it is similar in intent and feeling to 'February' by Pasternak. I translated it because I wasn't quite happy with the translations that I found.
"Chanson d'automne" ("Autumn Song") is a poem by Paul Verlaine (1844–1896), one of the best known in the French language. It is included in Verlaine's first collection, Poèmes saturniens, published in 1866 when Verlaine was just 22 years old.
In World War II lines from the poem were used to send messages from Special Operations Executive (SOE) to the French Resistance about the timing of the forthcoming Invasion of Normandy.
Serge Gainsbourg, uses parts of the poem in the lyrics of his song "Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais" ("I've come here to tell you that I am leaving").
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Autumn Song
The long sobs
Of violins
Autumnal
Play on my heartstrings
With a languor
Monotone
Breathless, stifled
And pale
When the hour sounds
I remember
Days gone by
And I cry
And I will go
Where the dark breeze takes me
Here and there
I rise and fall
Like a dead leaf
PAUL VERLAINE translated by Christian Furr
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Chanson D'Automne
Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l’automne
Blessent mon coeur
D’une langueur
Monotone.
Tout suffocant
Et blême, quand
Sonne l’heure,
Je me souviens
Des jours anciens
Et je pleure;
Et je m’en vais
Au vent mauvais
Qui m’emporte
Deçà, delà,
Pareil à la
Feuille morte.
PAUL VERLAINE