I spent yesterday evening the same way I'm spending this evening---doing not much of anything. Such inactivity is atypical of me, but it is restful. I'll be busy again soon enough.
Today's poem is by the dreamily dark Charles Baudelaire. I fucking LOVE Baudelaire, and there are many worthy translations of his works. Here's a selection from Les Fleurs du Mal, first in French, then in English:
"L'Hautontimoroumnos
J.G.F.
Je te frapperai sans colre
Et sans haine, comme un boucher,
Comme Mose le rocher
Et je ferai de ta paupire,
Pour abreuver mon Saharah
Jaillir les eaux de la souffrance.
Mon dsir gonfl d'esprance
Sur tes pleurs sals nagera
Comme un vaisseau qui prend le large,
Et dans mon coeur qu'ils soleront
Tes chers sanglots retentiront
Comme un tambour qui bat la charge!
Ne suis-je pas un faux accord
Dans la divine symphonie,
Grce la vorace Ironie
Qui me secoue et qui me mord
Elle est dans ma voix, la criarde!
C'est tout mon sang ce poison noir!
Je suis le sinistre miroir
O la mgre se regarde.
Je suis la plaie et le couteau!
Je suis le soufflet et la joue!
Je suis les membres et la roue,
Et la victime et le bourreau!
Je suis de mon coeur le vampire,
Un de ces grands abandonns
Au rire ternel condamns
Et qui ne peuvent plus sourire!
"The Man Who Tortures Himself
To J. G. F.
I shall strike you without anger
And without hate, like a butcher,
As Moses struck the rock!
And from your eyelids I shall make
The waters of suffering gush forth
To inundate my Sahara.
My desire swollen with hope
Will float upon your salty tears
Like a vessel which puts to sea,
And in my heart that they'll make drunk
Your beloved sobs will resound
Like a drum beating the charge!
Am I not a discord
In the heavenly symphony,
Thanks to voracious Irony
Who shakes me and who bites me?
She's in my voice, the termagant!
All my blood is her black poison!
I am the sinister mirror
In which the vixen looks.
I am the wound and the dagger!
I am the blow and the cheek!
I am the members and the wheel,
Victim and executioner!
I'm the vampire of my own heart
One of those utter derelicts
Condemned to eternal laughter,
But who can no longer smile!"
(translated by William Aggeler)
Today's poem is by the dreamily dark Charles Baudelaire. I fucking LOVE Baudelaire, and there are many worthy translations of his works. Here's a selection from Les Fleurs du Mal, first in French, then in English:
"L'Hautontimoroumnos
J.G.F.
Je te frapperai sans colre
Et sans haine, comme un boucher,
Comme Mose le rocher
Et je ferai de ta paupire,
Pour abreuver mon Saharah
Jaillir les eaux de la souffrance.
Mon dsir gonfl d'esprance
Sur tes pleurs sals nagera
Comme un vaisseau qui prend le large,
Et dans mon coeur qu'ils soleront
Tes chers sanglots retentiront
Comme un tambour qui bat la charge!
Ne suis-je pas un faux accord
Dans la divine symphonie,
Grce la vorace Ironie
Qui me secoue et qui me mord
Elle est dans ma voix, la criarde!
C'est tout mon sang ce poison noir!
Je suis le sinistre miroir
O la mgre se regarde.
Je suis la plaie et le couteau!
Je suis le soufflet et la joue!
Je suis les membres et la roue,
Et la victime et le bourreau!
Je suis de mon coeur le vampire,
Un de ces grands abandonns
Au rire ternel condamns
Et qui ne peuvent plus sourire!
"The Man Who Tortures Himself
To J. G. F.
I shall strike you without anger
And without hate, like a butcher,
As Moses struck the rock!
And from your eyelids I shall make
The waters of suffering gush forth
To inundate my Sahara.
My desire swollen with hope
Will float upon your salty tears
Like a vessel which puts to sea,
And in my heart that they'll make drunk
Your beloved sobs will resound
Like a drum beating the charge!
Am I not a discord
In the heavenly symphony,
Thanks to voracious Irony
Who shakes me and who bites me?
She's in my voice, the termagant!
All my blood is her black poison!
I am the sinister mirror
In which the vixen looks.
I am the wound and the dagger!
I am the blow and the cheek!
I am the members and the wheel,
Victim and executioner!
I'm the vampire of my own heart
One of those utter derelicts
Condemned to eternal laughter,
But who can no longer smile!"
(translated by William Aggeler)
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
bi_photo_chick:
Need details on our Virgo Party darling...I really really hope to make it...kisses 
o2bnlove:
Baudelaire kicks ass. If you like Poe, then you'd like Baudelaire.