Le blog de maud.tardieu

Keyword: Mummy, I would like to kiss you till we die, preliminary remark, here is a letter with no indication of day or year, we did not want to be prisoners of time, I have just found, written when I was a young man, addressed to Maud Tardieu, the two of us, in each other’s arm, take all the trees, make a bunch of them, gather all the tears give them as springing from my heart, profound union of our beings, your words are soft, sweet and smooth, your voice is marvellous, it’s raining today and I like it, the sky is completely grey, looks sulky, dull, gloomy, the light is different, it’s a delight to smell the atmospheric humidity, a drop falls sometimes and fades a little part of paper, people speed up under the rain, I am seated on a bench given to the protection of a tree, tree my friend, I sleep alone under my tent, a garden where you address me your radiant letters, fill my heart with warmth and tenderness, I love you, Maud had preciously kept this timeless letter, to fade, soft, sweet and smooth, light, delight.

Key names: Patrice Tardieu, Maud Tardieu, Maud, Proust.

«　Mummy, I would like to kiss you till we die　»

Patrice Tardieu

Preliminary remark: here is a letter with no indication of day or year, because we did not want to be prisoners of time, which I have just found, written by me probably when I was a young man, addressed to Maud Tardieu.

«　Mummy, I would like to kiss you till we die, the two of us, in each other’s arm. Yes, take all the trees and make a bunch of them! Gather all the tears and give them to you as springing from my heart! Profound union of our beings. How your words are soft, sweet and smooth and your voice marvellous! It’s raining today and I like it: the sky is completely grey, and looks sulky, the light is different, it’s a delight to smell the atmospheric humidity, a drop falls sometimes and fades a little part of the paper.

People speed up under the rain. Me, I am seated on a bench, given to the protection of a tree; tree, my friend!

I sleep alone under my tent in a garden where you address your radiant letters which fill my heart with warmth and tenderness.

I love you.

Patrice　».

Maud had preciously kept this «　timeless　» letter.

Note du traducteur ( Patrice Tardieu):

Je n’ai pas voulu traduire «　maussade　» par «　dull　», «　gloomy　», trop négatifs et j’ai donc traduit par «　boudeur　» (sulky). J’utilise un verbe inattendu dans ma lettre: une goutte de pluie «　fane　» le papier; en anglais j’ai préféré mettre «　décolore　» ( «　to fade　»), presque les mêmes lettres qu’en français. Les adjectifs les plus simples sont parfois les plus difficiles à rendre: j’ai utilisé «　soft, sweet and smooth　» (avec allitération!) pour le seul «　doux　».Je joue aussi sur «　light　» et «　delight　».

Remarque finale: ce qui me frappe, c’est l’aspect intemporel ( Proust aurait dit «　extra-temporel　») de cette lettre, et pourtant pleine de notes sensorielles.

Keyword:

 Preliminary remark, a poem, my father, nine months old, to come to my knowledge, due to, to testify, to bear testimony, that indefectible link, me and my mother, as early as the beginning of my life, mutual fondness that never ceased, now, without her, my father’s writing, the small white bed, my small child, Patrice and his mother asleep, small fair curls, baby boy, pillow of the arm, joined by so many mutual binds, so many love’s games, so many sweet smiles, slumbered, crushed by the weight of summer, the heart of one blends with the other heart, in like Innocence, those who know me now, straight and wiry black hair, till the age of eight, curly fair hair, mother who falls into slumber anywhere, the urge to be a mother, a motherly instinct, young, to burry her dolls, an encounter between her and me.

Key names: Patrice Tardieu, Ophélie, Maud Tardieu.

Mother and child asleep

Preliminary remark by Patrice Tardieu: a poem, written by my father when I was nine months old, just came to my knowledge due to Ophélie, that bears testimony to that indefectible link between me and my mother, Maud Tardieu, as early as the beginning of my life, mutual fondness that never ceased. But now, I am without her.

Here is my father’s writing:

«　In the small white bed

Of my small child

Patrice and his mother

Are fast asleep

The small fair curls

Of my baby boy

Rest on the pillow

Of the arm of his mother

The two of them joined

By so many mutual binds

By so many love’s games

By so many sweet smiles

So that slumbered, crushed

By the weight of summer

The heart of one blends with the other heart

…in like Innocence.

Postscript: for those who know me now with my straight and wiry black hair, I must remind everyone that, till the age of eight , I was with curly fair hair. My mother also, would fall into slumber anywhere.

Nota Bene: Did Maud had the urge to be a mother, «　a motherly instinct　»? No, when she was young, she buried her dolls! It’s an encounter between her and me.

The night kiss (1)

Key word:

 small piece of cardboard recently discovered, tonight, boundless emptiness, in me, not to have your kiss, mummy, remark, words of love, tenderness, event, symmetrical but in reverse order, mirror, waiting in vain, to come and kiss him in his bedroom, to visit, mother that waits the kiss of her son, before going to sleep, a Sunday evening, that summer, every morning, a few drops of her blood at the tip of a finger, to know the sugar ratio, insulin injection,  to be washed as you have been washed when a child, to reproach, to kiss her that night.

Key work:

 Remembrance of things past by Marcel Proust.

Key names:

 Patrice Tardieu, Maud Tardieu, Proust, Swann.