Standards – Shadow

Poem by Guillaume Apollinaire Collection CalligrammesThemes WarPeriod 20th century

Here you are again near me
Memories of my comrades dead in the war
The olive of time
Memories that are now but one
As a hundred furs make but one cloak
As these thousands of wounds make but one newspaper article
Impalpable and dark appearance that have taken
The changing form of my shadow
An Indian lying in wait through eternity
Shadow you crawl near me
But you no longer hear me
You will no longer know the divine poems that I sing
While I still hear you I still see you
Destinies
Multiple shadow may the sun keep you
You who love me enough never to leave me
And who dance in the sun without raising dust
Shadow ink of the sun
Writing of my light
Caisson of regrets
A god who humbles himself

Guillaume Apollinaire

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-standards-shadow-guillaume-apollinaire/