OLD AGE

Version anglaise que j'ai traduite

I thought that old age…

I thought that old age would make me gloomy,
Fearing every season, the passing years and the noises,
The great winds and the rains, and the mind starting to fail,
The hair becoming sparse, the wrinkles on my face.


Then I found out that growing old is ageless,
That rather than moaning, I should be singing,
And even though in small steps, the days appear
More beautiful and even too short when they are limited.

I thought that old age is like a colorless sky,
Like the spring without flowers, the lips without a smile,
The flowers without a song, the trees without leaves,
A book without a story, and a pencil in hand without a single word!


And then I found that growing old means growing wiser,
That I can live every moment of my life without worrying about to-morrow,
That I do not need to count the years of my age.
Who cares about to-morrow, a pencil in hand ready to write !


I thought that old age would change my soul,
That I no longer know how to admire the stars,
And that my hardened heart no longer has that flame,
That enlightened my life when the sky became dull.


And then I found that the most beautiful roses
Bloom in the fall and under my delightful eyes.
I take a deep breath at that sweet smelling that I dare
To keep, in order to perfume the autumn of my life.