On a Fan, Poem by Paul Arène

(for Jeanne Charcot).

***

If the undines and the fairies
Now, as in times of old,
On a walnut shell
Sailed, their hair crowned with coral,

And if I were — for we love
At times to follow strange dreams —
One of the tiny demons,
Kings of the blue sea and the shores,

I would want no other task
Than to wave this fan
To make a light breeze

That would push, ever so gently,
The boat toward a charming port,
And you would be the passenger.

Paul Arène

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-on-a-fan-paul-arene/