Barbara by Jacques Prevert

Remember, Barbara,
It was raining unceasingly on Brest that day,
And you were walking, smiling,
Lighted up, delighted, streaming,
Under the rain.

Remember, Barbara,
It was raining unceasingly on Brest,
And I met you on Siam Street.
You were smiling,
And I was smiling likewise.

Remember, Barbara,
You whom I didn’t know,
You who didn’t know me,

Remember,
Remember though that day.
Don’t forget.

A man was sheltered under a porch,
Streaming, delighted, lighted up,
And you threw yourself into his arms.
Remember that Barbara.

And don’t bear a grudge against me
if I use the familiar form with you.
I say you (familiar form) to all whom I love.
Even if I have only seen them one time
I say you (familiar form) to all whom I love.
Even if I don’t know them.

Remember, Barbara.
Don’t forget
This wise and happy rain
On this happy city.
This rain on the sea,
On the shipyard,
On the boat Ouessant.

Oh, Barbara,
What a nastiness that war.
What did you become now?
Under this rain of iron,
Of fire, of sword, of blood

And the one who was squeezing you
in his arms lovingly,
Did he disappear, dead, or still alive?

Oh, Barbara,
It is raining unceasingly on Brest,
As it rained before.

But it’s not the same and everything is destroyed.
It’s a rain of terrible and desolate mourning.
It’s no longer the storm of iron, sword, and bloodshed.

But simply clouds
That dies like dogs
Dogs that disappear
In the downpour drowning Brest
And float away to rot
Far away from Brest
Of which there’s nothing left.

Throughout the poem the words “Remember” come back a lot of time. What Barbara is being asked to remember is that Brest was once a blessed city because there were two people in it who were deeply in love. During the war…who destroyed everything… those two people perheps, their love and Brest itself.

Those lovers are gone, that city is gone – this is why memory is so important: some precious things persist only in the memory.

Ella