Familiale
by J. Prévert

La mère fait du tricot
Le fils fait la guerre
Elle trouve ça tout naturel la mère
Et le père qu'est-ce qu'il fait le père?
Il fait des affaires
Sa femme fait du tricote
Son fils la guerre
Lui des affaires
Il trouve ça tout naturel le père
Et le fils et le fils
Qu'est-ce qu'il trouve le fils?
Il ne trouve rein absolument rein le fils
Le fils sa mère fait du tricot son père des affaires lui la guerre
Quand il aura fini la guerre
Il fera des affaires avec son père
La guerre continue la mère continue elle tricote
Le père continue il fait des affaires
Le fils est tué il ne continue plus
Le père et le mère vont au cimetière
Ils trouvent ça tout naturel le père et la mère
La vie continue la vie avec le tricot la guerre les affaires
Les affaires les affaires et les affaires
La vie avec le cimetière

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Two translations for your consideraton:

The mother knits
The son wages war
This seems only natural to her, the mother
And the father what is he doing the father?
He works
His wife does the knitting
His son the war
Him his work
This seems only natural to him the father
And the son and the son
How does it seem to him the son?
It doesn't seem like anything anything at all to him the son
The son his mother tends to the knitting his father his work him the war
When he will have finished with war
He will work with his father
The war keeps going the mother keeps going she knits
the father keeps going he works
The son is killed he doesn't keep going any more
The father and the mother go to the cemetery
This seems only natural to them the father and the mother
Life keeps going life with knitting war work
work work and work
Life with the cemetery

-- or --

The mother makes the knitting
The son makes war
She find this completely natural the mother
And the father what does he do the father ?
He makes business
His wife makes the knitting
His son war
Him business
He find this completely natural the father
And the son and the son
What does he think the son ?
He thinks nothing at all the son
The son his mother does the knitting his father business him war
When he has finished with war
He will make business with his father
The war goes on the mother goes on she knits
The father goes on he makes business
The son is killed he no longer goes on
The father and the mother go to the cemetery
They find this completely natural the father and the mother
Life goes on life with the knitting the war the business
The business the war the knitting the war
The business the business and the business
Life with the cemetery

--

I'm not really happy with either. This poem uses a lot of the structure of the French language to play with ideas of repetition and monotony. Sadly I'm not an accomplished enough linguist or poet to pull it off in English. Suggestions for alternate translations are welcomed.

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