My Former Life

For a long time I dwelt under vast porticos

Which the ocean suns lit with a thousand colors,

The pillars of which, tall, straight, and majestic,

Made them, in the evening, like basaltic grottos.

The billows which cradled the image of the sky

Mingled, in a solemn, mystical way,

The omnipotent chords of their rich harmonies

With the sunsets' colors reflected in my eyes;

It was there that I lived in voluptuous calm,

In splendor, between the azure and the sea,

And I was attended by slaves, naked, perfumed,

Who fanned my brow with fronds of palms

And whose sole task it was to fathom

The dolorous secret that made me pine away.