A Lucky Encounter

Poem by Alfred De Musset Collection New PoemsPeriod 19th century

And yet, I said to myself, it would take no more
Than a permission from our Lord God
For some woman to happen to pass by this place.
The groves are deserted; the heat is extreme;
The winds are made for love, the horizon is on fire;
Every woman, this evening, must long to be loved.

If there should come to pass, beneath these great chestnut trees,
Some alert beauty of the Flemish school,
A round-cheeked lass escaped from Teniers,
Or some pensive angel of German candor:
A virgin in fine gold from a legendary book,
Trailing her little feet in a flood of velvet;

She would come that way, from that dark alley,
Walking with a doe’s step, with a pouting air,
Listening to the wind murmuring in the leaves,
With amorous idleness and veiled languor,
In her restless fingers tormenting a flower,
Spring on her cheek, and heaven in her heart.

She would stop over there, beneath the arbor.
I would say nothing to her; I would simply go
Kneel down on both knees on the ground before her,
Gaze into her eyes the azure of the firmament,
And as my only favor beg her merely
To let herself be loved with an immortal love.

Alfred De Musset

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-a-lucky-encounter-alfred-de-musset/