Saint John's Even, Poem by Emile Verhaeren

Poem by Emile Verhaeren Period 19th century

Dance on the riverbank, you flames,
Like little ladies,
Like sad little ladies.

Behold the eves of Saint John
Along the river and the ponds.
Dance on the riverbank, you flames,
With red-haired urchins all around you,
Will-o’-the-wisp shavings, wild spirals,
Dance, dance, dance,
Little pastoral flames.

The bird brushes past you and lets out a cry,
The little ladies.

The wind whips you and makes you redden,
The little ladies.

The priest passes by and blesses you,
The little ladies.

Behold the eves and the horizon the color of lees,
Dance, dance, little ladies,
Dance your melancholy.
Already the night and its shadows are stirring
Like widows
Along the rivers;
Dance still, dance, you flames,
For the good Lord
A little
And give Him back your soul,
Your soul with all its flames,
The flickering little ladies.

Emile Verhaeren

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

Text published on Poésies 123: https://www.poesies123.com/en/poem-saint-johns-even-emile-verhaeren/