L’amour est un oiseau rebelle
que nul ne peut apprivoiser,
et c’est bien en vain qu’on l’appelle,
s’il lui convient de refuser
Suddenly, he came upon the realization that her beauty unintentionally entraps men, who are then led to their downfall by their own misguided ideas of love, and that he was simply another one of many. Not that it mattered anyway; to force such things is futile.
So enough about love, he said, for love is often fickle and unrequited.
Tu ne l’attends plus, il est là!
Just the word “apprivoiser” speaks such volumes. Looking at the english translation leaves something to be desired, though if you don’t speak french fluently, you’d never know. It is one of my favorite words. If you ever get a chance to read through Le Petit Prince in the chapter where the little prince speaks to the fox (chapter XXI, i think), you’ll see where from an early age the word found its way into my heart.
I remember studying that aria in school and thinking at the tender age of 13 that i understood it. Because, afterall i had a boyfriend… so then i knew of love(pfft). Now 15 years later i’m certain i didn’t then, and i’m not even sure i do now. But i understand myself a lot more and so i recognize my kind of love in the words.
Thanks for bringing it back to my attention(o=
I read Le Petit Prince in French class for grade 10, though I don’t remember much of it. Only bits and pieces, like the drawing of Le Petit Prince himself and a snake swallowing an elephant.
The first time I learned the words to the aria was when I saw Magnolia. None of it clicked in though. Not until recently, at least, eight years after I watched it at the Rideau Centre during my first year of university.