Sonnet to Mme de M., Poem by Charles Cros

Poem by Charles Cros Collection The Sandalwood CasketPeriod 19th century

To Madame de M.

Ignorant or rather disdainful of evils
And perversities, knowing yourself out of reach,
You pass through life loving without constraint,
Giving of your charm to the most ordinary things.

I have like a vague memory, in old enamels
Of a luminous portrait of a queen or else a saint
With slender grace, in which I found you painted
Better than I could do by lining up words.

Like the saint, you have the gift of pleasing
Without feverish striving; so your clear soul
Will not be troubled by the storms of the world.

And you still have, as in that image,
The fine and long look of medieval queens
Whose steps a naive and gentle people kissed.

Charles Cros

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