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Elevation Above the pools, above the valleys,
Above the mountains, the woods, the clouds, the seas,
Beyond the sun, beyond the ether,
Beyond the confines of the starry spheres,
My spirit, you move with agility,
And, like a strong swimmer who swoons in the waves,
You gaily cut through the profound immensity
With an undescribable and manly delight.
Fly far away from these morbid miasmas;
Go and purify yourself in the upper air,
And drink, like a pure and divine liquor,
The translucent fire that fills the limpid spaces.
Behind the boredom, the vast griefs and vexations
That weigh down with their weight our foggy lives,
Happy is he who can, upon a vigorous wing,
Soar upward toward the luminous and serene fields;
He whose thoughts, like larks,
Take free flight toward the sky in the morning,
-- Who glides over life, and who effortlessly understands
The language of flowers and of speechless things!
Original French
(All translations by Cat Nilan © 1999, 2004) |