The Little One Reads the Almanac (from Francis Jammes)

The Little One is reading the Almanac & sitting near the egg cartons
It’s all about Saints and Famous Men and what’s coming weather-wise,
Too it’s about beautiful big Sky Signs:
the Goat, the Bull, the Ram, the Fishes etc.

Perhaps she can believe, the Little One,
That way above her in the Constellations
There are markets like this one with donkeys
Bulls, Rams, Goats, with Fishes.

O yes she’s reading about Sky Market
And when the page is all about the Scales
She can say to herself: why Sky Market is just like the grocery store
Where they weigh out the coffee, the salt and the Consciences.

Colleen Thibaudeau, 1973

“The Little One Reads the Almanac” is from Colleen Thibaudeau’s 1977 book My granddaughters are combing out their long hair, published by Coach House Press.

Based on Francis Jammes’ (1868-1938) poem “L’enfant lit l’almanach,” Thibaudeau would call this a “transliteration” of the original French poem, rather than an exact translation. (See the earlier post “from Verlaine’s Impressions” and the audio clip where Thibaudeau describes her approach.)

From the Biographie des poètes, page 86:

JAMMES (Francis) (1868-1938).
Habitant les Pyrénées, Francis Jammes est resté en dehors des mouvements qui ont secoué la poésie au début  du XX^e  siècle. Son art est simple, familier, mais profondément vrai et d’une grande sensibilité ; l’amour de la nature y apparaît constamment ainsi qu’un profond sens religieux.