Als die Waffen schwiegen

Saltatio Mortis

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	Translated by Tobi Veselich
QUAND LES ARMES SE SONT TUES	WHEN THE WEAPONS WERE SILENT

Il faisait froid dans les Flandres le jour de Noël,	It was cold in Flanders, on Christmas day,
Après trop de guerres,	After so much war,
En 1914, à l’hiver du monde,	In the year 1914, winter of the world,
Quand les armes se sont tues.	When the weapons were silent
Contre la mort, hors des tranchées	From the trenches [1], opposed to the death,
Retentit une chanson simple,	sounded a simple song,
Une « Douce nuit » en plusieurs langues ;	In many languages, "Silent Night"
Ça ressemblait à un miracle.	created a miracle.

Quand les armes se sont tues.	When all the weapons were silent,
Et quand le silence éclata,	and silence broke,
Un chant des tranchées	a song from the trenches [1]
Promit la paix.	promised peace,
Un moment, personne ne voulait plus vaincre ;	for a moment, no more desire for victory,
Le soldat fut aussi un homme,	the soldiers were also human [2]
Quand les armes se sont tues.	when the weapons were silent.

Une mer de bougies au long des tranchées,	A sea of candles along the trenches [1],
Éclairait la nuit,	Lit the night,
Et des sentinelles courageuses ont levé la main,	And bold guards, lifting their hands,
Ont quitté leur poste.	Abandoned their posts,
Bientôt, ils chantèrent ensemble.	Soon, they sang together,
Ennemis, soldats,	Enemies, soldiers,
Par-dessus les tranchées,	Out of the trenches [1],
Célébraient Noël	Celebrating Christmas,
Dans la guerre, avec la mort et la boue.	During the war, with death and with dirt

Quand les armes se sont tues.	When all the weapons were silent,
Et quand le silence éclata,	and silence broke,
Un chant des tranchées	a song from the trenches [1]
Promit la paix.	promised peace,
Un moment, personne ne voulait plus vaincre ;	for a moment, no more desire for victory,
Le soldat fut aussi un homme,	the soldiers were also human [2]
Quand les armes se sont tues.	when the weapons were silent.

Il y avait tellement d’espoir à ce moment-là,	In the moment, so much hope,
Il y avait tant de bonheur à ce moment-là.	In the moment, so much luck,
Le moment était une promesse,	The moment was a promise,
Mais le chemin repartit en arrière,	but the path led back
Retour vers les tranchées froides,	Back to cold trenches [1],
Retour vers la souffrance et la mort.	Back to suffering and death
Tout espoir s’est éteint	All hope was extinguished,
À l’aube.	The next morning.
Quand les armes se sont tues…	When the weapons were silent ...

	[1] The word "trenches" appears six times in the English, but there are two words use in the German. The first and final times the word "Schützengräben" is used. The middle four times the word "Gräben" is used. "Schützengräben" is made of two parts "Schützen," meaning protection, and "Gräben," meaning graves. So the middle four instances of "trenches" is literally the word "graves" in the German. [2] Meaning the soldiers were not simply soldiers anymore, but they had their humanity returned. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltatio_Mortis

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