And I Saw Again the Only Child: It Seemed to Me

Poem by Paul Verlaine Collection WisdomThemes ChildhoodPeriod 19th century

And I saw again the only child: it seemed to me
That there opened in my heart the last wound,
The one whose more exquisite pain assures me
Of a desirable death on a consoled day.

The good sharp arrow and its freshness that endures!
In these chosen moments they awakened
The somewhat heavy dreams of wearied scruple,
And all my Christian blood sang the pure Song.

I still hear, I still see! Law of duty
So sweet! At last, I know what it is to hear and see
I hear, I see always! Voice of good thoughts

Innocence, future! Wise and silent,
How I shall love you, you for a moment pressed,
Beautiful little hands that will close our eyes!

Paul Verlaine

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

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