An English transliteration* of the "infamous" poet adventurer, Renée Vivien (b. Pauline Mary Tarn, 6/11/1877-11/10/1909), who composed the original in French:
The Touch
The trees have kept some lingering sun in their branches,
Veiled like a woman, evoking another time,
The twilight passes, weeping. My fingers climb,
Trembling, provocative, the line of your haunches.
My ingenious fingers wait when they have found
The petal flesh beneath the robe they part.
How curious, complex, the touch, this subtle art --
As the dream of fragrance, the miracle of sound.
I follow slowly the graceful contours of your hips,
The curves of your shoulders, your neck, your upappeased breasts.
In your white voluptuousness my desire rests,
Swooning, refusing itself the kisses of your lips.
Le Toucher**
Les arbres ont gardé du soleil dans leurs branches.
Voilé comme une femme, évoquant l’autrefois,
Le crépuscule passe en pleurant… Et mes doigts
Suivent en frémissant la ligne de tes hanches.
Mes doigts ingénieux s’attardent aux frissons
De ta chair sous la robe aux douceurs de pétale…
L’art du toucher, complexe et curieux, égale
Les rêves des parfums, le miracle des sons.
Je suis avec lenteur le contour de tes hanches,
Tes épaules, ton col, tes seins inapaisés.
Mon désir délicat se refuse aux baisers ;
Il effleure et se pâme en des voluptés blanches.
**Évocations, 1903
*Source: www.sappho.com
Today's Rune: The Warrior.
Birthdays: Ben Jonson, John Constable, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, Renée Vivien (b. Pauline Mary Tarn), Max Schreck, Jeannette Rankin, Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Vince Lombardi, Michael Cacoyannis, William Styron, Athol Fugard, Gene Wilder (b. Jerome Silberman), Chad Everett (b. Raymond Lee Cramton; Wayne State University graduate), Adrienne Barbeau, Choi Ji Woo.
2 comments:
I gotta say, the French original IS a lot better, as you'd expect. Whoo...
Who is it in the picture?:D
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