The Almond Branch

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

From the almond tree, flowering stem,
Symbol, alas! of beauty,
Like you, the flower of life
Blooms and falls before summer.

Whether we neglect it or pluck it,
From our brows, from the hands of Love,
It slips away leaf by leaf,
Like our pleasures day by day!

Let us savor these brief delights;
Let us dispute them even with the zephyr,
Let us drain the laughing chalices
Of these perfumes that are about to die.

Often fleeting beauty
Resembles the morning flower,
Which, from the icy brow of the guest,
Falls before the hour of the feast.

One day falls, another rises;
Spring is about to vanish;
Each flower that the wind carries away
Tells us: Hurry to enjoy.

And, since they must perish,
Let them perish without return!
Let these roses wither
Only under the lips of love!

Alphonse de Lamartine

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