'A Bird Came Down...'

A bird came down the walk:
He did not know I saw;
He bit an angle-worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.

And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass,
And then hopped sidewise to the wall
To let a beetle pass.

He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all abroad,--
They looked like frightened beads, I thought;
He stirred his velvet head

Like one in danger; cautious,
I offered him a crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home

Than oars divide the ocean,
Too silver for a seam,
Or butterflies, off banks of noon,
Leap, splashless, as they swim.

Traduction (partielle) de A. Messiaen (Flammarion):

Un oiseau passe sur le sentier...
Ses yeux ressemblaient, pensai-je,
                                                           à des perles qui ont peur;
Il remua sa tête de velours
Comme un être en danger; avec précaution,
Je lui offris une miette;
Il déplia ses ailes
Et s'en alla chez lui, voguantplus doucement
Que des rames qui fendent l'océan...

Emily Dickinson

Merci Anne pour cette contribution!