Ma voix aigre et fausse…
P. Verlaine
I’m telling you with utter
Openness:
All’s sheer fancy, sherry-frenzy,
Dearest.
Where earlier to a Hellene
Beauty shone,
There dark holes exposed to me
A deep shame.
Ancient Greeks they once filched Helen
over the sea.
On the lips with salty foam
they stroke me.
And the emptiness will dab me
On the lips,
The penury will give me the finger
Austerеly.
If it blows, if it blusters,
Cut it loose,
Angel Mary, drink the cocktails,
Gulp the booze.
I’m telling you with utter
Openness:
All’s sheer fancy, sherry-frenzy,
Dearest.
(Translated by Natasha Bershadsky)
