Separation, Poem by Auguste Angellier

So then you went away;
You followed, without turning back,
The pale and yellowing pathway
That October was about to strip of its crown!

I watched your step recede,
That once hastened toward me;
My eyes, sadder at each arch
Of branches already stripped of green

Whose space was ever widening,
Separating us forever,
Yet admired the grace
Of your supple body with its fine contours.

O sweet body of milk and snow,
Always languid and shivering,
Always praying to be protected,
Sweet body of luminous alabaster,

O sweet body, worthy of Correggio
For the exquisite and soft glow
That clothed, like a spell,
Its slow grace and its whiteness!

It receded beyond myself,
Escaped from my deserted arms,
Leaving me a brow forever pale,
A heart forever dispossessed.

You walked with your head bowed;
Regret, perhaps, for an instant,
For our torn tenderness,
Slowed your hesitant step;

And perhaps even a tear
Trembled in your dear blue eyes,
At the moment when the charm was dying
By which we might have lived happy!

Ah! perhaps a rapid glance,
A single one, would have put you back in my arms,
And restored you to my eager heart;
But you did not turn around!

You walked with your head bowed,
On the yellow and tawny carpet
With which the avenue was strewn,
Beneath the great drowsy elms;

I watched you to the very end
In the mist and in the distance,
Seeing your fading form
Float in the more uncertain air,

Until the harsh obscure minute,
When, last farewell of farewells,
The golden point of your hair
Died in the tears of my eyes.

Auguste Angellier

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

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