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I give you these verses so that if my name ... I give you these verses so that if my name
Should arrive happily at the shores of distant eras
And cause human minds to dream one evening,
Ship favored by a strong north wind,
Your memory, similar to dubious fables,
Will importune the reader like a dulcimer,
And by a fraternal and mystical link
Remain as though hung from my haughty rhymes;
Cursed being to whom, from the depths of the abyss
To the heights of heaven, nothing, except I, replies!
-- Oh you who, like a shadow of ephemeral trace,
Tramples with a light foot and a serene gaze
The stupid mortals who judged you bitter,
Statue with eyes of jade, great brazen-faced angel!
Original French
(All translations by Cat Nilan © 1999, 2004) |