Gypsies on the Road

Poem by Charles Baudelaire Collection The Flowers of EvilThemes ArtPeriod 19th century

The prophetic tribe with burning eyes
Set out yesterday, carrying their little ones
On their backs, or giving up to their proud appetites
The ever-ready treasure of their hanging breasts.

The men walk on foot beneath their gleaming weapons
Along the carts where their own are huddled,
Casting upon the sky eyes weighed down
By the dreary regret of absent chimeras.

From the depths of its sandy nook the cricket,
Watching them pass, redoubles its song;
Cybele, who loves them, increases her greenery,

Makes the rock flow and the desert bloom
Before these travelers, for whom is opened
The familiar empire of future darkness.

Charles Baudelaire

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