Scherzo

Poem by Charles Cros Collection The Sandalwood CasketPeriod 19th century

Smiles, flowers, kisses, essences,
After such insipid boredom,
After such drab absences,
Perfume the wind of my nights!

Illuminate my fancy,
Strew my ideal path,
And pour me your ambrosia,
Long gazes, lilies, lips, sandalwood!

*

For I know nothing of decrepit love
And the unsealing of the eyes,
Since still upon your white nape
The gold blazes in silky flakes.

And yet, my proud friend,
It was long ago, wasn’t it?
That one morning you fell asleep,
Weary of love, in my arms.

*

It is not carnal things
That make your matchless charm,
That preserve in your pupils
These same rays of sunlight.

For carnal things die,
Or fade in the real air,
But always your beauties remain
In their immaterial halo.

This is no longer the hour of jealous
Tenderness, nor of false oaths.
Tell me nothing of my mistresses,
I do not count your lovers.

*

To you, wandering comet
Often delayed along the way,
Letting your blond hair
Float in the superhuman ether,
What matter a few pale stars
In the troubled sky of my reason,
When you come at long intervals
To envelop my horizon?

*

I do not want to know what poles
Your mad orbit has passed,
Hold out to me your breasts and your shoulders;
That I may kiss them, that is enough.

Charles Cros

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-scherzo-charles-cros/