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French Translation
and Declamation
On 1st July 2016, as the school
gathered their prayers and
thoughts to commemorate
the battle of the Somme, the
French and English departments
joined forces to embark upon
a voyage of discovery into the
mind of the poet and translator.
LeDormeur duVal
was written byArthur
Rimbaud, aged only 16 and tackles the
aftermath of another European conflict: the
Franco-Prussian war.Yet the emotions it
unravels and the vivid imagery created by the
simple language echo still today and resonated
in us all as we pondered upon the loss of
lives during the fateful battle. In this poem it
is important to note that the identity of the
young soldier remains undisclosed and that no
mention is made of his nationality either.As the
school community was waking up to the results
of the EU referendum, it was a useful reminder
to us all of the history and shared value which,
regardless of political outcomes, bind our
European nations together.
Below is the original text together with a
selection of translations submitted by boys
in Upper Remove.Through this process the
boys were not only able to reflect upon the
message of the poem but also considered the
roles played respectively by words, syntax,
versification and imagery.
Marcus Ovey
and
SamMackie
read their version beautifully in
the senior creative writing presentation held in
the amphitheatre on 6th July.
JND
“Le Dormeur duVal”
byArthur Rimbaud (1854-1891)
C’est un trou de verdure où
chante une rivière,
Accrochant follement aux
herbes des haillons
D’argent ; où le soleil, de la montagne fière,
Luit : c’est un petit val qui mousse de rayons.
Un soldat jeune, bouche ouverte, tête nue,
Et la nuque baignant dans
le frais cresson bleu,
Dort ; il est étendu dans l’herbe, sous la nue,
Pâle dans son lit vert où la lumière pleut.
Les pieds dans les glaïeuls, il
dort. Souriant comme
Sourirait un enfant malade,
il fait un somme :
Nature, berce-le chaudement : il a froid.
Les parfums ne font pas frissonner sa narine ;
Il dort dans le soleil, la main sur sa poitrine,
Tranquille. Il a deux trous
rouges au côté droit.
“The Sleeper of theValley”
translated byNimoHodges,Marcus
Ovey,TitusMacDermot,CeesArmstrong,
SamMackie and JamesAllen
In a green hollow where a stream gurgles
Hanging madly onto the grass some rags
Of silver; where the proud mountain
Shines: this is a little valley,
brimming with golden rays.
A young soldier, mouth wide, head bare
With his neck lying in the
blue water cress sleeps,
He is lounging on the grass,
under the Heavens,
Pale, in his green bed where the light pours.
Feet in the flowers, he smiles
Like an ill child, he naps.
Oh nature, rock him warmly, for he is cold
No scent quiver his chest;
He lies in the sun, his hand on his breast
Tranquil. He has two holes, red, on his side.
Original text
Translated poem –
combination of boys’ work
Maths
Challenges
We took part in three team
competitions during the year.
Representing the U11s at St Edward’s School
in November,
George Zhou, David Jin Li,
Clyde Lartey
and
Eddie BurnabyAtkins
put in a solid performance.They enjoyed
the three rounds – Find theValues (algebra),
Countdown (arithmetic) and the Big Event
(problem solving) – and also the tea at the
end.The following week we welcomed the
same organiser, Douglas Buchanan, to our
sports hall to hold a similar event for U9s.
With haste, precision and excitement, 120
boys and girls from local schools spent a
happy ninety minutes shuffling geometric
figures, summing products and dicing with
numbers, amongst other activities. It was
most gratifying to see a Summer Fields pair,
Jago Edsberg
and
Henry Snow
, fend off
the stiff competition and collect the top
prize. In May we hosted the U10 Maths
Challenge, this time in the Salata Pavilion,
where the main room positively hummed
with excitement as over a hundred young
mathematicians busied themselves with
tasks designed both to promote intrigue and
enquiry. Although the eight Summer Fields
2ndYears did not feature at the very top of
the leaderboard, they were undoubtedly left
inspired to seek and solve problems in this
realm of the academic spectrum.
As usual, we entered a large number
of boys for the UK Intermediate Maths
Challenge in February, and even more for the
JMC inApril. It was no surprise to see Sean
Jaffe qualify for the Intermediate Olympiad
– an event for pupils up to 16 years old –
and after two hours of producing complex
solutions he was awarded a Merit. In the
JMC Gold awards were won by 18 boys,
two of whom qualified for the Olympiad
and nine for the Kangaroo.They were:
Sean
Jaffe
(Olympiad Distinction) and
Simon
Luo
(Olympiad Merit);
George Zhou,
Mem Factor, David Doughty,Yi Feng Hu,
CeesArmstrong, Luke Eadie, Richard
Somovidis, David Jin Li, Hansen Han
(Kangaroo); and
Nimo Hodges, Orlando
Soundy,TomCapstick-Dale, James Scott,
Ernest Newland, Joseph Menell
and
Patrick Murray
.There were 26 Silvers and
18 Bronze winners.
MWIJ
S u m m e r F i e l d s
2 0 1 5 – 2 0 1 6
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