Fran�ois Cheng: "Eastward of All" (From French)

Eastward of All
By Fran�ois Cheng
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
Click to hear me recite the original French
Click to hear me recite the English

Eastward of all, where the sea recalls
The storm has scattered scales
Of dragons, turtle shells
We bow down unto pure silence
That rules beyond the banished land
At evening-fall, eastward of all

Where the wind of the one recollection rises.

The Original:

"� l'orient de tout..."

� l'orient de tout, l� o� se souvient
La mer, l'orage a dispers� �cailles
Des dragons, carapaces des tortues
Nous nous prosternons vers le pur silence
R�gnant par-del� la terre exil�e
� l'heure du soir, � l'orient de tout

O� se l�ve le vent de l'unique m�moire.