To a Creole Lady

Poem by Charles Baudelaire Collection The Flowers of EvilThemes LovePeriod 19th century

In the fragrant land that the sun caresses,
I once knew, beneath a canopy of trees all crimsoned
And of palms from which laziness rains down upon the eyes,
A Creole lady with charms unknown.

Her complexion is pale and warm; the dark enchantress
Has in her neck nobly affected airs;
Tall and slender, walking like a huntress,
Her smile is tranquil and her eyes assured.

If you were to go, Madam, to the true land of glory,
On the banks of the Seine or of the green Loire,
Beauty worthy to adorn the ancient manor houses,

You would make, sheltered in shadowy retreats,
A thousand sonnets germinate in the hearts of poets,
Whom your large eyes would make more submissive than your black ones.

Charles Baudelaire

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