Gustave Nadaud. 1820-1893. John Bartlett, comp. 1919. Familiar Quotations, 10th ed.

Reference > Quotations > John Bartlett, comp. > Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. > Gustave Nadaud

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John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

Gustave Nadaud. (1820–1893)

    I ’m growing old, I’m sixty years;
  I ’ve labored all my life in vain.
In all that time of hopes and fears,
  I ’ve failed my dearest wish to gain.
I see full well that here below
  Bliss unalloyed there is for none
My prayer would else fulfilment know—
  Never have I seen Carcassonne!

Carcassonne. Translated by John Reuben Thompson. Stanza 1.

    Yet could I these two days have spent,
  While still the autumn sweetly shone,
Ah, me! I might have died content
  When I had looked on Carcassonne.

Carcassonne. Translated by John Reuben Thompson. Stanza 2.

    They tell me every day is there
  Not more nor less than Sunday gay;
In shining robes and garments fair
  The people walk upon their way.
One gazes there on castle walls
  As grand as those of Babylon,
A bishop and two generals!
  What joy to be in Carcassonne!
  Ah! might I but see Carcassonne!

Carcassonne. Translated by John Reuben Thompson. Stanza 3.

    The vicar ’s right; he says that we
  Are ever wayward, weak and blind;
He tells us in his homily
  Ambition ruins all mankind;

Carcassonne. Translated by John Reuben Thompson. Stanza 4.

    Thy pardon, Father, I beseech,
  In this my prayer if I offend;
One something sees beyond his reach
  From childhood to his journey’s end.
My wife, our little boy Aignan,
  Have travelled even to Narbonne;
My grandchild has seen Perpignan;
  And I—have not seen Carcassonne.

Carcassonne. Translated by John Reuben Thompson. Stanza 5.

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD · AUTHOR INDEX · CONCORDANCE INDEX

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