Frantisek Kupka, La voie du Silence, 1903, huile et pastel, Galerie nationale d’Art moderne et contemporain de Prague
Hello darkness, my old friend,
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain, still remains
Within the sound of silence
Bonsoir ténèbres, mon vieil ami,
Je suis venu discuter encore une fois avec toi
Car une vision s’insinuant doucement en moi,
A semé ses graines durant mon sommeil
Et la vision qui fut plantée dans mon cerveau, demeure encore
Dans le son du silence
Simon & Garfunkel, « The sound of Silence », 1964
Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a streetlamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dare
Disturb the sound of silence
“Fools” said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence