Sonnet to Mlle Nelsy de S., Poem by Charles Cros

Poem by Charles Cros Collection The Sandalwood CasketPeriod 19th century

To Mademoiselle Nelsy. de S.

I believe Mantegna painted you
Upright in the rare grass and slender trees,
By a blue sea, where, well-mannered, dolphins
Escort ships with low masts.

You lead, bound with a red sash,
Loves; heedless of their tears, real or feigned,
You dream of plans whose ends no one knows,
Letting your golden hair float at adventure.

Or, a priestess come with the Norman chiefs,
It was you who made docile and sleeping,
By your songs, the unruly waves of the Seine.

Escaped from old paintings, old novels,
Thus, your beauty astonishes me on the stage
Of today’s world, poor in enchantments.

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-sonnet-to-mlle-nelsy-de-s-charles-cros/