Gustave Nadaud

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...

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!

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

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.

Je me fais vieux, j’ai soixante ans, J’ai travaillé toute ma vie, Sans avoir, durant tout ce temps. Pu satisfaire mon envie. Je vois bien qu’il n’est ici-bas De bonheur complet pour personne. Mon vœu ne s’accomplira pas: Je n’ai jamais vu Carcassonne!