back to Saint-John Perse

“Song” by Saint-John Perse 🇫🇷 (31 May 188720 Sep 1975)
Translated from the French
My horse stopped under the tree full of doves,
I whistle so pure that there are no promises
to their banks that all these rivers keep.
Living leaves in the morning are the image of glory …
And it is not that a man is not sad, but rising before
daybreak and standing cautiously in the trade of an old tree,
leaning from the chin to the last star, he sees in the depths
of the sky great pure things which turn to pleasure.
My horse stopped under the cooing tree, I whistle a purer whistle …
And peace to those who are about to die, who have not seen this day.
But from my brother the poet, we had news.
He wrote one more very sweet thing. And some knew about it.