Twilight on the Shore, Poem by Auguste Angellier

Poem by Auguste Angellier Collection The Path of SeasonsThemes Death, Sadness, SeaPeriod 20th century

The sea, this evening, is taciturn,
Heavy, smooth, weary, motionless,
Like oil within an urn;
And, in the sky already nocturnal,

A powerful cloud is tranquil.
The horizon is veiled in mist,
Which sleeps in a gray and red depth
Where the end of day is consumed;

Except when a star lights up.
Nothing, in the sky, nor on the sea, moves.
Alone in the immense expanse
Of the silent shore.

A woman, dressed in mourning,
Peaceful as a statue,
Seated on a rock, dreams.
Her brow beneath her veil leans down;

Her hands, crossed on her knees,
Hold between them a branch,
And her dress in black folds spreads
Until it touches the bronzed waters.

The night, which rises from the shore,
Veils her in its dark crepes;
Soon of the motionless image
Nothing remains but the face,
Which seems to touch a star.

Then it fades; and nothing expresses
The sadness that accumulates
At the final instant that removes
The strange and sublime figure,
The human soul of twilight.

Auguste Angellier

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-twilight-on-the-shore-auguste-angellier/