To a Young Girl

Poem by Alphonse De Lamartine Collection New Poetic MeditationsPeriod 19th century

A kiss upon my brow! a kiss, though but in dream!
But from my pensive brow the cool kiss flies away;
But my dried-up days have no more summer sap;
But Dawn will never embrace the Night.

She dreamed no doubt as well that her breath
Restored to me the climes of my young seasons,
That snow was melting on a human head,
And that the soul’s flower had two flowerings.

She dreamed no doubt as well that on my cheek
My hair, brushed by the wind from my eyes,
Like the floating jet locks her head shakes,
Drowned her distracted fingers in its silky flakes.

She dreamed no doubt as well that innocence
Guarded against desire its roses and its lilies;
That I was Jocelyn and she was Laurence,
That the valley in bloom hid us in its folds.

She dreamed no doubt as well that my delirium
In melodious verses wept as in times past;
That my heart beneath her hand became a lyre
That in a single sigh gave voice to two voices.

Fatal vision! All my being shudders;
One would say my blood wants to flow backward.
Child, tell your dreams to no one anymore,
And never dream, or else dream forever!

Alphonse de Lamartine

Translation generated by Poésies 123 with assistance from the deepseek-chat artificial-intelligence model.

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