Jocelyn, December 16, 1793

Poem by Alphonse De Lamartine Period 19th century

At night, when by chance I wake, and I think
That outside and inside all is calm and silent,
And that forgetting Laurence, sleeping beside me,
My barely awakened heart believes itself alone for a moment;
If I suddenly hear her breath exhaling,
Regular, from her breast coming out like an even breeze,
That harmonious breath of a sleeping child!
On an elbow propped I half rise,
As at the bedside of a son, a mother watching;
This breath of peace reassures my ear;
I bless God under my breath for having granted me
This angel whom I guard and by whom I am guarded;
I feel, from the bliss with which these hours are full,
That my soul breathes and lives in two breaths;
What music would have for me such chords?
I listen to her sleeping for a long time, and fall back asleep!

Alphonse de Lamartine

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

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