Ton héritage [English translation]

If you love the rainy nights,

My child, my child,

The streets of Italy

And the steps of passers-by,

The eternal litanies

Of dead leaves in the wind

Giving their last cry,

Then cry, my child.

If you love the clouds,

My child, my child,

Bathing at the midnight

In the grand ocean,

If you love the hard life,

Your reflection in the pond,

If you want your friends

Close to you all the time

If you pray when the night falls,

My child, my child,

If you don't bring flowers to the graves,

But miss the departed,

If you fear the bombs

And the too large sky,

If you talk to your shadow

From time to time

If you love the low-tide,

My child, my child,

The sun on the terrace

And the moon under the wind

If you sometimes lose your trace

In time of spring

If the life sometimes exceeds you,

Then pass on, my child

You are not to blame,

It's your legacy

And it will only get worse

When you will be my age

You are not to blame

It's your flesh, your blood,

You will need to do with it

Or, better, without

If you forget surnames,

Addresses and ages,

But almost never the sound

Of a voice or a face

If you love what is good

If you see mirages

If your prefer Paris

When the storm comes

If you love the bitter tastes

And all-white winters

If you love the last glasses

And troubling mysteries

If you love feeling the earth

And volcanoes erupting

If you fear the void

Then empty yourself, my child

You are not to blame,

It's your legacy

And it will only get worse

When you will be my age

You are not to blame

It's your flesh, your blood,

You will need to do with it

Or, better, without

If you love leaving before

My child, my child,

Before the other awakes

Before he leaves you

If you fear the sleep

And the time passing

If you love the orange autumn,

Wonder, red blood

If you fear the crowds

But bear the people

If your ideals crumble

In the evening of your twenties

If nothing happens

As you planned it

If you are nothing but a rolling stone,

Then roll, my child...