Impromptu

Poem by Alfred De Musset Collection New PoemsPeriod 19th century

(In answer to the question: What is Poetry?)

To banish every memory and fix one’s thought,
To hold it poised on a beautiful golden axis,
Uncertain, restless, yet motionless,
Perhaps to eternalize the dream of a moment;
To love the true, the beautiful, to seek their harmony;
To listen in one’s heart to the echo of one’s genius;
To sing, laugh, weep, alone, without aim, at random;
From a smile, a word, a sigh, a glance
To make an exquisite work, full of fear and charm,
To make a pearl from a tear:
Such is the poet’s passion here below,
Such is his wealth, his life and his ambition.

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-impromptu-alfred-de-musset/