Luxuries, Poem by Paul Verlaine

Poem by Paul Verlaine Collection Jadis et naguèreThemes LovePeriod 19th century

Flesh! O sole fruit bitten of the orchards here below,
Bitter and sweet fruit that oozes for the teeth alone
Of those starving for love alone, mouths or maws,
And good dessert of the strong, and their joyous meals,

Love! the sole thrill of those whom the horror of living
Does not move, Love who grind beneath your millstones
The scruples of libertines and prudes
For the bread of the damned whom the sabbaths elect,

Love, you appear to me also as a handsome shepherd
Of whom the spinner sitting by the hearth dreams
On winter evenings in the warmth of a bright vine shoot,

And the spinner is the Flesh, and the hour rings
When the dream will embrace the dreamer, – holy hour
Or not! what matters it to your ecstasy, Love and Flesh?

Paul Verlaine

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

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