Eugene Pottier: Radical Poet

Eugene Pottier was a 19th century poet who wrote L'Internationale, the anthem for the Paris Commune and, later, for the I.W.W.. Below, I've translated one of his poems (for the first time in English). If you would like to read more, you can get the collection here.

The Spiderweb

Across the rose colored glass, 
blotting the sky,
a still creature, 
or is it just a lie?
Quiet and thin, sticking fast,
a nightmare spreading over earthly winds, 
scorching the earth with its venomous sins.

A parasite that pays no heed to time or place,
darkening Nature’s source of light,
and to existence weakens sight.
He digs into the skull as mud,
and he drinks the brain, 
a Vampire that sucks on our blood,
a God that lives on our pain.

Nothingness wields the master’s tools,
and the Priests ride atop such poor fools
who leave their children paradise lost.

So avoid the spider’s web, or breakthrough 
to the light, stomp it with your shoe, 
kill him, whatever the cost.

LA TOILE D’ARAIGNÉE

De sa rosace immense encombrant le ciel bleu,
Il est un monstre amorphe, intangible et farouche ;
Ce cauchemar du vide affole ce qu’il touche
Et répand un venin qui met la terre en feu.

Ce parasite ignore et le temps et le lieu,
Rend l’univers bancal et la nature louche,
Et, liant la raison comme une faible mouche,
Il lui boit le cerveau. Ce vampire, c’est Dieu !

Ce néant a fourbi les griffes de nos maîtres,
De sa chiasse immonde il enfanta les prêtres,
Il barre de ses fils nos paradis déçus.

Homme, n’attends pas d’être englué dans ses toiles
Et, crevant ce haillon qui s’accroche aux étoiles,
Déniche l’araignée, et mets le pied dessus !