Douce France

It comes back to my memory
Familiar memories
I see again my black smock
When I was a schoolboy
On the way to school
I sang at the top of my voice
Wordless romances
Old songs of yesteryear

Sweet France
Dear country of my childhood
Rocked by tender carelessness
I have kept you in my heart

My village with the steeple and wise houses
Where the children of my age
Shared my happiness
Yes, I love you
And I give you this poem
Yes, I love you
In joy or in pain
Sweet France
Dear country of my childhood
Rocked by tender carelessness
I have kept you in my heart

I have known landscapes
And marvelous suns
During distant travels
Far away under other skies
But how much I prefer them
My blue sky, my horizon
My great road and my river
My meadow and my house

Sweet France
Dear country of my childhood
Rocked by tender carelessness
I have kept you in my heart!
My village with the steeple and wise houses
Where the children of my age
Shared my happiness
Yes, I love you
And I give you this poem
Yes, I love you
In joy or in pain
Sweet France
Dear country of my childhood
Rocked by tender carelessness
I have kept you in my heart