Les Chaussees. (Translation) . Poem by Michael Walker
Les Chaussees. (Translation) .
Un chemin mene a Londres,
Un chemin mene au Pays des Galles,
Mon chemin me conduit vers la mer
Aux voiles blanches et plongeantes.
Un chemin mene a la riviere,
Et il va lentement comme un chanson;
Mon chemin mene aux navires,
Ou vont les matelots bronzes.
Me conduit, m'attrait, m'appelle
A la mer verte du sel et sautante;
Un chemin sans la poussiere de la terre
C'est le chemin droit pour moi.
Un chemin trempe poignant, brillant,
Et dechaine des cris des mouettes,
Un vent fou et sale de la mer soufflant
Les embruns du sel dans mes yeux.
Mon chemin m'appelle, m'attrait
A l'ouest, l'est, le sud, et le nord;
La plupart des chemins conduisent les hommes a la maison,
Mon chemin me mene en route.
Pour ajouter plus de milles au total
De milles grises deja traversees,
A la recherche de cette beaute unique
Que Dieu m'a mis ici pour trouver.
-' Roadways'. John Masefield(1878-1967) .
The second and the fourth lines in each stanza rhyme: sometimes the first line rhymes with the second and fourth.
This ballad shows the great influence of the sea in John Masefield's thinking and inner life, like 'Sea Fever'. His road leads to the sea, not to London or Wales. His road leads to shipping, where 'the bronzed sailors go'. His road has no dust on it. He hears sea-gulls crying and feels the salty sea wind blowing salt spray in his eyes. His road leads him 'West, east, south, and north', to all points of the compass, not homewards. All his voyages will add more miles to the tally of 'grey miles left behind': in quest of the ultimate beauty which God put him 'here to find'.
On my reading, 'Roadways' succeeds in every way. 'Roads' is used in the literal sense-the road to London- and also as a metaphor of the pathways of the sea, where there is no dust. Masefield himself sailed to Chile, then New York, then backwards and forwards across the Atlantic. His life story is on Poem Hunter.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
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8/29/2026 7:29:08 AM # rel_20260827T145718Z_a0f1bd3
