XI

Dawn, darkness, evening, space and the stars;

that which the night conceals or shows between

its veils is mingled with the fervour of our

exalted being. Those who live with love live with

eternity.

It matters not that their reason approve or

scoff, and, upright on its high walls, hold out

to them, along the quays and harbours, its bright

torches; they are the travellers from beyond the

sea.

Far off, farther than the ocean and its black

floods, they watch the day break from shore to

shore; fixed certainty and trembling hope present

the same front to their ardent gaze.

Happy and serene, they believe eagerly; their

soul is the deep and sudden brightness with which

they burn the summit of the loftiest problems;

and to know the world, they but scrutinize

themselves.

They follow distant roads chosen by themselves,

living with the truths enclosed within their

simple, naked eyes, that are deep and gentle as

the dawn; and for them alone there is still song

in paradise.

The Love Poems (From Les Heures claires, Les Heures d'après-midi, Les Heures du Soir) · 第 46 / 90 题