Caress, Poem by Charles Cros

You took me young, simple and fair,
Glad in the new dawn’s light;
But you showed me the grave
And you ate my brain.

You breathed of the finest jasmine,
Roses envied your cheek;
With your two little hands
You flooded me all with mud.

The sun lit my brow,
The moon revealed your form;
And far from the glories yet to be
I fall into the enormous abyss.

Hold me tight in your arms!
Let no one make your statue.
Closer, lovely one! You will die
For I kill you – and I kill myself.

Charles Cros

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-caress-charles-cros/