La Fin de la Journée, Charles Baudelaire
At the End of the Day
Through light, all colorless and pale,
Life blunders on in brazen dance,
Racing, writhing—to no avail.
So at the moment of first advance
Of voluptuous night on the distant hill,
With all shame to be made outcast,
And all hunger to be made still,
The Poet tells himself, “At last!
“Just like my bones that long for sleep,
My burning mind seeks its repose
From doleful dreams that inward creep;
“I’ll stretch out flat to soothe life’s throes
And feel your shroud around me close—
Refreshed, renewed, O shadows deep.”
Les Hiboux, Charles Baudelaire
The Owls
The owls seek out the darkest spot
Deep in the yews; arranged in rows,
Darting red eyes about like those
Of alien gods, they sit. They plot.
Nor will they stir from there before
The melancholy hour’s begun—
When, driving on the sidelong sun,
Darkness will settle in once more.
Their posture shows who would be wise
That in this world great danger lies
In tumult, revel, agitation;
A fleeting phantom leads a chase
That ends in endless condemnation
For one who dares step out of place.