FLORISE.

Richly mature, upon the bed of joy

Strown with crushed flowers, Florise bends lovingly

Her heavy-lidded great eyes o'er the boy

Whom she has made man ere his puberty.

Fair as a sunset that on roses lingers,

Sweet as the wind is he in lilac-trees.

With gratitude he fondles the deft fingers

That guided him into love's mysteries.

Heavy with glad fatigue, their senses thus

Dream, but breaking off their amorous

Embrace, as though a cry she would withhold,

She feels her heart within her pale, and presses

Her face upon the pillow, for she guesses

Her too young lover sees her growing old.

Contemporary Belgian Poetry Selected and Translated by Jethro Bithell · 第 97 / 232 题