Il restera de toi
AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION
What Will Live On
What you gave will live on,
rather than lie locked in rusting coffers.
From your secret garden, what will live on
is a forgotten flower that never withered.
rather than lie locked in rusting coffers.
From your secret garden, what will live on
is a forgotten flower that never withered.
What you gave will blossom in others.
Whoever reaches life's end will one day find theirs again.
What you offered in your open arms,
one morning in the sunlight, will live on.
What you lost will live on too,
what you waited for, but never lived to see.
one morning in the sunlight, will live on.
What you lost will live on too,
what you waited for, but never lived to see.
What you endured will live again in others.
Whoever reaches life's end will one day find theirs again.
A tear that fell will live on,
a smile that blossomed in the eyes of your heart.
What you sowed will live on,
what you shared with those who begged for happiness.
a smile that blossomed in the eyes of your heart.
What you sowed will live on,
what you shared with those who begged for happiness.
What you sowed will grow in others.
This translation was created to honour the integrity and emotional force of Michel Scouarnec's original, a poem often misattributed online to Simone Veil and too often diminished by poor English translations.
Free to download for personal use.
English translation © Alastair Cassie 2026.
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