“I used to walk by the river
An old book under my arm
The river is the same as pain
It elapses mindlessly
And when will the week be over”

— Guillaume Apollinaire , book Alcools

Je passais au bord de la Seine
Un livre ancien sous le bras
Le fleuve est pareil à ma peine
Il s'écoule et ne tarit pas
Quand donc finira la semaine
"Marie", line 21; translation from Donald Revell (trans.) Alcools (Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press, 1995) p. 75.
Alcools (1912)

Original

Je passais au bord de la Seine Un livre ancien sous le bras Le fleuve est pareil à ma peine Il s'écoule et ne tarit pas Quand donc finira la semaine

Alcools (1912)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Guillaume Apollinaire 28

French poet 1880–1918

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