Voyelles

A noir, E blanc,I rouge, U vert, O bleu--voyelles,
Je dirai quelque jour vos naissances latentes:
A, noir corset velu des mouches éclatantes
Qui bombinent autour des puanteurs cruelles,

Golfes d'ombre; E, candeur des vapeurs et des tentes,
Lances des glaciers fiers, rois blancs, frissons d'ombelles;
I, pourpres, sang crachés, rires des lèvres belles
Dans la colere ou les ivresses pénitentes;

U, cycles, vibrements divins des mers virides,
Paix des patis semés d'animaux, paix des rides
Que l'alchimie imprime aux grands fronts studieux;

O, supreme Clairon plein des strideurs étranges,
Silence traversés des Mondes et des Anges:
--O l'Omega, rayon violet de ses yeux!

--Arthur Rimbaud

Vowels

Black A, white E, red I, green U, blue O--vowels,
Some day I will open your silent pregnancies:
A, black belt, hairy with burst flies
Bumbling and buzzing over stinking cruelties;

Pits of night; E, candor of sand and pavilions,
High glacial spears, white kings, Queen Anne's lace;
I, bloody spittle, laughter dribbling from a face
In wild denial or anger, vermillions;

U, divine movement of viridian seas,
Peace of pastures animal-strewn, peace of calm lines
Drawn on foreheads worn with heavy alchemies;

O, supreme Trumpet, harsh with strange stridencies,
Silences traced in angels and astral designs:
O, Omega, the violet light of His eyes!

translated by: Paul Schmidt

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