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The Balcony Mother of memories, mistress of mistresses,
Oh you, all of my pleasures! oh you, all of my duties!
You will remember the beauty of our caresses,
The sweetness of the hearth and the charm of the evenings,
Mother of memories, mistress of mistresses!
Evenings illuminated by the heat of a coal fire,
And the evenings on the balcony, veiled in rosy vapors.
How sweet your breast was to me! how good your heart was to me!
We often said things that will never perish on
Evenings illuminated by the heat of a coal fire.
How beautiful the sun is on hot evenings!
How profound space is ! how powerful is the heart!
Leaning toward you, oh queen of adored women,
I believed I was breathing the perfume of your blood.
How beautiful the sun is on hot evenings!
The night thickened and fell like a partition,
And in the blackness my eyes could make out your pupils,
And I drank your breath, oh sweetness! oh poison!
And your feet fell asleep in my brotherly hands.
The night thickened and fell like a partition.
I know the art of evoking happy moments,
And I reviewed my past curled up upon your knees.
For what good would it do to search for your languid beauties
Elsewhere than in your dear body and in your heart so sweet?
I know the art of evoking happy moments!
These vows, these perfumes, these infinite kisses,
Will they be reborn from an abyss we cannot sound,
Just as rejuvenated suns rise to heaven
After having been washed in the depths of deep seas?
-- Oh vows! oh perfumes! oh infinite kisses!
Original French
(All translations by Cat Nilan © 1999, 2004) |