Comme Toi

Elle avait les yeux clairs
Et la robe en velours
A côté de sa mère
Et la famille autour
Elle pose un peu distraite
Au doux soleil de la fin du jour

La photo n'est pas bonne
Mais l'on peut y voir
Le bonheur en personne
Et la douceur d'un soir
Elle aimait la musique
Surtout Schumann, et puis Mozart

Refrain:
Comme toi, comme toi, comme toi
Comme toi, comme toi, comme toi
Comme toi que je regarde tout bas
Comme toi qui dors en rêvant à quoi
Comme toi, comme toi, comme toi

Elle allait à l'école au village d'en bas
Elle apprenait les livres
Elle apprenait les lois
Elle chantait les grenouilles
Et les princesses qui dorment au bois

Elle aimait sa poupée
Elle aimait ses amis
Surtout Ruth et Anna
Et surtout Jérémie
Et ils se marieraient un jour
Peut-être à Varsovie

Refrain:

Comme toi, comme toi, comme toi
Comme toi, comme toi, comme toi
Comme toi que je regarde tout bas
Comme toi qui dors en rêvant à quoi
Comme toi, comme toi, comme toi

Elle s'appelait Sarah
Elle n'avait pas huit ans
Sa vie, c'était douceur, 
Rêves, et nuages blancs
Mais d'autres gens
En avaient décidé autrement

Elle avait tes yeux clairs
Et elle avait ton âge
C'était une petite fille
Sans histoires et trés sage
Mais elle n'est pas née
Comme toi ici et maintenant! 

Comme toi, comme toi, comme toi...

She had clear eyes And velvet dressStanding next to her motherAnd surrounded by familyShe looked a bit distracted In the soft sunlight at the end of the dayThe photo isn't niceBut we can tell from there Her happiness And the softness of an early eveningShe loved musicMost of all Schumann and then Mozart
Refrain:Like thee, like thee, like theeLike thee, like thee, like theeLike thee whom I view in silence Like thee who sleeps in dreaming of whateverLike thee, like thee, like thee
She went to the village school down belowShe learned from books and about the lawsShe sang about frogs And princesses who slept in the woodsShe loved her doll and her friendsEspecially Ruth and Anna and JeremieAnd one day maybe she would marry a guy in Varsovie
Refrain:Like thee, like thee, like theeLike thee, like thee, like theeLike thee whom I view in silence Like thee who sleeps in dreaming of whateverLike thee, like thee, like thee

Her name was Sarah And she was not quite eight years oldHer life was all about softness, dreams and white cloudsBut other people Had decidedly that differently it would turn outShe had clear eyesAnd her age was the same as thineShe was a young girl without history and very wiseBut she wasn't born Like thee, in the here and now
Like thee, like thee, like thee...

Translated with tremulous trepidation 

By Wissai

December 3, 2013

Comme Toi

She was only nine

The same age as mine

Three years we were together 
Except the long hot summer 

She was the best in the class

She was truly a lovely lass

Clear, sparkling yes, nice smile, and long hair 

And I dreamed of her and I really cared

Her name was long

It had many letters

It made me feel strong

And wondrously tender

We met briefly, you and me

Then we met again and I was drowned in the sea

Of a crazy love for thee and I was not even eighteen

You looked so much like her, nine long years I hadn't seen

You had her eyes, smile, flowing long hair 

And a long name that drove me into a state of despair

My heart went wild with tormenting desires

My mind said, "I must put out this stupid fire!"

So, I ran away from you, knowing I meant nothing to you

I buried myself in books while my heart throbbed unsubdued

I learned French, a language I knew I must know

In order that I could live with a love I had to forgo

I learned to write and I learned to fight for a peace

That I must have in a world that I feel amiss

All because foolishly I had allowed you to set my heart on fire

I turned to books, poetry, and philosophy so my heart can turn to ice

Months rolled by and years came and went away

All sorts of women, lovers and friends, put my heart in further disarray

Where are you now, the girl in my dreams

As I thrash around in the twilight of my life, I want to scream

Wissai

December 3, 2013