The Summer Holiday, Poem by Félix Arvers

Poem by Félix Arvers Period 19th century

I have often compared the summer holiday
To the phases of a journey undertaken together
With strangers of every kind
Not one of whom one has in one’s life seen or known.

At the start of the road, climbing into the carriage,
We watch each other: – one finds the other tiresome;
Conversation, languid, dies for want of fodder…
But, little by little, we liven up; and each

In turn joins in the general cheer:
We talk, we open up, and more than one is valued.
– The horses meanwhile go on without stopping;

And just when we begin barely to know one another,
When we judge each other better, – when we might perhaps love,
– That is when we arrive, – and must part.

Arvers Félix

Translation generated by Poésies 123 with assistance from the deepseek-chat artificial-intelligence model.

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