Terreur (Terror) by Guy de Maupassant
Terreur is is short poem by Guy de Maupassant. It was originally published in French in 1876, and later translated into English and published as Terror—a direct translation of the original title.
This page contains both the original French version of Terror and the English translation. Not surprisingly, the original poem is the most pleasant to the ear and has a beauty the translation lacks.
However, although it lacks the rhyme and meter of the original poem, the English version of Terror is more successful at capturing the dark elements of the poem. Nevertheless, if you have a reasonable understanding of French, the original poem is the one to read.
About Guy de Maupassant
Guy de Maupassant was a French author. Born in 1850, he is popularly considered to be one of the fathers of the modern short story.
de Maupassant was a gifted and versatile writer and in the 1880s he wrote 300 short stories, six novels, one book of verse and three travel books. Only about ten percent of de Maupassant’s work was in the horror genre.
Terror
By Guy de Maupassant
[Click Her to go to the Original French Version]
That evening I had read some author for a very long time.
It was well past midnight, and suddenly I was afraid.
Afraid of what ? I don’t know, but a horrible fear.
I understood, panting and shivering with dread,
Something terrible was going to happen…
So I seemed to feel behind me
Someone who stood upright, whose face
Laughed with an atrocious laugh, motionless and nervous:
And I couldn’t hear anything, though. Oh torture!
To feel him stoop to touch my hair,
And he was going to put his hand on my shoulder,
And that I was going to die at the sound of his word!…
He always leaned towards me, always closer;
And I, for my eternal salvation, I would not have
Neither moved nor turned his head…
Like storm-tossed birds,
My thoughts swirled around in horror.
A sweat of death froze every limb,
And I heard no other noise in my room
Than my teeth chattering in terror.
Suddenly there was a crack; terrified,
Having uttered the most terrible howl
Who ever came out of a living chest,
I fell on my back, stiff and motionless.
Terreur
Guy de Maupassant
[Cliquez ici pour accéder à la traduction anglaise]
Ce soir-là j’avais lu fort longtemps quelque auteur.
Il était bien minuit, et tout à coup j’eus peur.
Peur de quoi ? je ne sais, mais une peur horrible.
Je compris, haletant et frissonnant d’effroi,
Qu’il allait se passer une chose terrible…
Alors il me sembla sentir derrière moi
Quelqu’un qui se tenait debout, dont la figure
Riait d’un rire atroce, immobile et nerveux :
Et je n’entendais rien, cependant. O torture !
Sentir qu’il se baissait à toucher mes cheveux,
Et qu’il allait poser sa main sur mon épaule,
Et que j’allais mourir au bruit de sa parole !…
Il se penchait toujours vers moi, toujours plus près ;
Et moi, pour mon salut éternel, je n’aurais
Ni fait un mouvement ni détourné la tête…
Ainsi que des oiseaux battus par la tempête,
Mes pensers tournoyaient comme affolés d’horreur.
Une sueur de mort me glaçait chaque membre,
Et je n’entendais pas d’autre bruit dans ma chambre
Que celui de mes dents qui claquaient de terreur.
Un craquement se fit soudain ; fou d’épouvante,
Ayant poussé le plus terrible hurlement
Qui soit jamais sorti de poitrine vivante,
Je tombai sur le dos, roide et sans mouvement.
Guy de Maupassant (1850 — 1893)