Out of the groves of sleep I came, somewhat
morose because I had left you beneath their
branches and their braided shadows, far from the
glad morning sun.
Already the phlox and the hollyhocks glisten, and
I wander in the garden dreaming of verses clear
as crystal and silver that would ring in the
light.
Then abruptly I return to you with so great a
fervour and emotion that it seems to me as though
my thought suddenly has already crossed from afar
the leafy and heavy darkness of sleep to call
forth your joy and your awakening.
And when I join you once more in our warm house
that is still possessed by darkness and silence,
my clear, frank kisses ring like a dawn-song in
the valleys of your flesh.