Two Poems by Paul Verlaine
Streets
Let’s dance the jig!
Above all else I loved her eyes,
More clear than stars of cloudless skies,
And arch and mischievous and wise.Let’s dance the jig!
So skilfully would she proceed
To make a lover’s bare heart bleed,
That it was beautiful indeed!Let’s dance the jig!
But keenlier have I relished
The kisses of her mouth so red
Since to my heart she has been dead.Let’s dance the jig!
The circumstances great and small,—
Words, moments… I recall, recall
It is my treasure among all.Let’s dance the jig!
Sleep, Darksome, Deep
Sleep, darksome, deep,
Doth on me fall:
Vain hopes all, sleep,
Sleep, yearnings all!Lo, I grow blind!
Lo, right and wrong
Fade to my mind….
O sorry song!A cradle, I,
Rocked in a grave:
Speak low, pass by,
Silence I crave!
Translations by Gertrude Hall
About the Author:
Paul Verlaine (30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet.
