The Sea

Poem by Charles-Nérée Beauchemin Collection ArrayPeriod 19th century

Far from the great black rocks the tide caresses,
The calm sea, the sea with its drowsy murmur,
Offshore, far off, has slowly withdrawn,
And its sob of love dies in the evening air.

The tawny sea, the virgin sea, the wild sea,
Deep in its inviolate bed of nacre
Descends again, to sleep, far, far from the shore,
Under the one pure gaze of the gentle starry sky.

The sea loves the sky: it is to tell it better,
Apart, in secret, its immense torment,
That the tawny lover withdraws offshore,
In its bed of coral, amber, and diamond.

And the breeze brings to the jealous earth
Only a whispering breath, vague, delicious:
The soul of the oceans quivers like a wife
Under the chaste kiss of the impassive skies.

Charles-Nérée Beauchemin

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