Notre-Dame de Paris

Poem by Gérard De Nerval Period 19th century

Notre-Dame is very old: perhaps we shall see her
Bury, one day, the Paris she saw born;
But, in some thousand years, Time will make stumble
As a wolf does an ox, this heavy carcass,
Will twist her nerves of iron, and then with a dull tooth
Gnaw sorrowfully at her old bones of rock!

Many men, from all the lands of the earth,
Will come, to contemplate this austere ruin,
Dreamers, and rereading the book of Victor:
– Then they will think they see the old basilica,
Just as she was, powerful and magnificent,
Rise before them like the shadow of a dead man!

Gérard de Nerval

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

Text published on Poésies 123: https://www.poesies123.com/en/poem-notre-dame-de-paris-gerard-de-nerval/