En ce début d’année, je suis heureuse de partager avec vous un texte qui m’a longtemps accompagnée : Desiderata de Max Ehrmann, écrivain américain (1872-1945). Des paroles emplies de sagesse et de sérénité. De nombreuses traductions existent, mais c’est dans sa langue d’origine que le poème éclate de beauté.
La première phrase est devenue mythique : “Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence”. En français, on peut traduire ainsi : “Allez tranquillement parmi le vacarme et la hâte, et souvenez-vous de la paix qui peut exister dans le silence.”
Chacun pourra trouver ici son petit bonheur !
Desiderata
GO PLACIDLY amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann © 1927
Ce poème a inspiré nombre d’artistes, dont Sherrie Lovler, poète et calligraphe américaine. L’image en une de cet article figure parmi ses créations. Ses enluminures sont merveilleuses, une belle idée de cadeau à tous ceux qui nous sont chers. L’artiste propose également des textes de Rudyard Kipling, notamment le célèbre poème “Si”, dont je parlerai une prochaine fois…!
