Toi, la mer immense [English translation]

You, immense sea

You haven't told me

If you've had the chance

To see my country

Since my absence

How has life been?

Is it one of silence

Or of forgetfulness?

You, immense sea

Carry to me the echo

Of the creaking notes

Of my old piano

Do the birds still go

Searching for boats?

Does my house still look

at itself in the water in the evening?

You, immense sea

If you go over there

Carry to my childhood

A little of my voice

Since my absence

I've had other joys

Yet, when I think of it

I cry many times

It was nice, taking refuge

In another port

We return, in our thoughts

To what we for a long time believed dead

You, immense sea

You haven't told me

That your heart balances

Between two countries