I No Longer Wish to Love Anyone but My Mother Mary

Poem by Paul Verlaine Collection WisdomThemes ReligionPeriod 19th century

I no longer wish to love anyone but my mother Mary.
All other loves are commandments.
Necessary as they are, my mother alone
Will be able to kindle them in the hearts that have cherished her.

It is for Her that one must cherish my enemies,
It is through Her that I have vowed this sacrifice,
And sweetness of heart and zeal in service,
As I prayed to her, She permitted them…

It is through Her that I have willed these sorrows,
It is for Her that I have my heart in the Five Wounds,
And all these good efforts toward the crosses and the hurdles,
As I invoked her, She girded my loins.

I no longer wish to think of anything but my mother Mary,
Seat of Wisdom and source of pardons,
Mother of France also, from whom we await
Unwaveringly the honor of the homeland.

Mary Immaculate, essential love,
Logic of the cordial and lively faith,
In loving you, what good is there that I should not do,
In loving you with the only love, Gate of heaven?

Paul Verlaine

Translation generated by Poésies 123 with assistance from the deepseek-chat artificial-intelligence model.

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