I Have Come, a Calm Orphan, Poem by Paul Verlaine

Gaspard Hauser sings:

I have come, a calm orphan,
Rich only in my tranquil eyes,
To the men of the great cities:
They did not find me clever.

At twenty a new trouble
Under the name of amorous flames
Made me find women beautiful:
They did not find me handsome.

Though without homeland and without king
And very brave, though hardly so,
I wished to die in the war:
Death did not want me.

Was I born too early or too late?
What am I doing in this world?
O all of you, my sorrow is deep:
Pray for poor Gaspard!

Paul Verlaine

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-i-have-come-a-calm-orphan-paul-verlaine/