When I first read Léopold Sédar Senghor's poetry at http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/cm/africana/senghor.htm, I had a challenge finding the flow of his words. I thought the translation was a little (lot) awkward. Then I read the disclaimer near the bottom of the page... "N.B. To avoid the need for requesting copyright permissions on our web site, we have created our own "unofficial" English translations of small excerpts from the selected poems above."

Relieved, a google search (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/senghor.htm) netted this translated poem which I took to immediately. It works for me.

VISIT

I dream in the intimate semi-darkness of an afternoon.
I am visited by the fatigues of the day,
The deceased of the year, the souvenirs of the decade,
Like the procession of the dead in the village on the horizon of the
--shallow sea.
It is the same sun bedewed with illusions,
The same sky unnerved by hidden presences,
The same sky feared by those who have a reckoning with the dead.
And suddenly my dead draw near to me...

Now, can anyone suggest the best or preferred English translation of Léopold Sédar Senghor's poetry? That would be a treat, delight and wonderful re-introduction to this remarkable man.

Peace,
"Guided by the Ancestors"