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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

L'homme de la terre

English translation:

he who works the land

Added to glossary by Verginia Ophof
Jul 6, 2012 20:38
12 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term

L'homme de la terre

French to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature Poetry
Je cherche à traduire cette expression dans un poème...
Je n'ai pas trouvé d'équivalent satisfaisant en anglais. Merci pour votre aide.
L'homme de la terre, issu de la simplicité,
Ne peut se rendre compte de son importance
Proposed translations (English)
4 +5 he who works the land
4 the salt of the earth
4 Man from earth
3 Man of the land
3 man of the country
3 A man of the soil
4 -2 The man of the earth!
Change log

Jul 20, 2012 15:10: Verginia Ophof Created KOG entry

Discussion

Just Opera Jul 7, 2012:
man of the earth also has a religious connotation. More context would be useful I agree.
Lara Barnett Jul 6, 2012:
@ Sophieanne Can you give more context on this please? The period the poem was written is important, as is the situation/physical context of the poem.
Mark Nathan Jul 6, 2012:
When was this written? The "simple peasant" belongs to a past age, and a different sort of language.
Yvonne Gallagher Jul 6, 2012:
more (con)text needed.
Kévin Bernier Jul 6, 2012:
I would very much like that aswell. I mostly based my answer on the simplicity concept which seemed to fit my idea, but a wider feel of the tone of the poem would help us further.
Wolf Draeger Jul 6, 2012:
More text Hi Sophieanne, can you give us the rest of the poem (of if it's too long, of the first stanza), and give us a general idea of its tone and theme?

Proposed translations

+5
27 mins
Selected

he who works the land

poetic suggestion.......

or simply : farmer
Peer comment(s):
agree Kévin Bernier : Oh that is so much better than my suggestion! Well done here.
1 min
Thank you Kevin !!! Happy weekend !
agree Letredenoblesse
10 mins
Thank you Agnes !!
agree kashew : = landworker - which may scan better?
11 hrs
Thank you Kashew. good suggestion, but doesn't sound as poetic :)
agree Bertrand Leduc
15 hrs
Thank you Bertrand !!
agree Cetacea
3 days 14 hrs
Thank you Cetacea !!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
7 mins

Man of the land

Given the "simplicity" context, I would tend to think it refers to a peasant, a man of agriculture who works his land.

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Note added at 17 mins (2012-07-06 20:55:45 GMT)
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Either that, or possibly a man who is just close to nature and tends to live by his own and very simple means.
Something went wrong...
48 mins

the salt of the earth

meaning those of great worth, this comes from the Bible, Matthew 5:13. It seems especially apt for an agricultural setting, and fits with the second line too.

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Note added at 59 mins (2012-07-06 21:38:26 GMT)
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I should point out that this is commonly used in the UK (tongue-in-cheek) to refer to manual labourers.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2012-07-06 23:04:30 GMT)
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Not that I'm saying that's a bad connotation!
Peer comment(s):
neutral cc in nyc : There's no evidence that any of the twelve disciples were farmers.
5 hrs
As I said, it's commonly used here to refer to agricultural workers in general.
Something went wrong...
22 hrs

man of the country

Countryman, born and bred - and not necessarily a peasant.
Something went wrong...
1 day 1 hr

A man of the soil

...is one who tills the land. Vital to food production - or at least, he was and maybe still is.
Something went wrong...
1 day 16 hrs

Man from earth

simply
Peer comment(s):
neutral Cetacea : As opposed to man from Mars?
1 day 22 hrs
Something went wrong...
-2
1 day 16 hrs

The man of the earth!

Imho
Peer comment(s):
disagree Kim Metzger : This is unidiomatic English.
51 mins
disagree Cetacea : That is not what the French means.
1 day 22 hrs
Something went wrong...
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