May 2016
I am the sad widower, dissolute;
The prince of Aquitaine, by luck deposed:
My glistening soul is dead; its jeweled flute
sings perturbed melodies until opposed!
In the darkness of tombs, I am consoled.
Return, Oh Pospillo and the seas which doze:
The flower which pleases my heart has been sold;
And vines grow thick without the tender rose....
Am I love or Phoebus? ... Lusignan or Byron?
Still, I'm made to blush from the queen's embrace;
Although I dream in Neptune's silent place.
I have crossed the Acheron twice before:
Upon the Orphic lyre I've played by turns—
Saintly sighs and the awful cries of yore.
The prince of Aquitaine, by luck deposed:
My glistening soul is dead; its jeweled flute
sings perturbed melodies until opposed!
In the darkness of tombs, I am consoled.
Return, Oh Pospillo and the seas which doze:
The flower which pleases my heart has been sold;
And vines grow thick without the tender rose....
Am I love or Phoebus? ... Lusignan or Byron?
Still, I'm made to blush from the queen's embrace;
Although I dream in Neptune's silent place.
I have crossed the Acheron twice before:
Upon the Orphic lyre I've played by turns—
Saintly sighs and the awful cries of yore.
(c) 2016. All rights reserved.
This is an original translation of "El Desdichado" by Gérard Nerval from the original French.
Nerval was an important figure in the French Romantic revival. He was also, however, through his influence on André Breton, the forefather of the surrealist movement. His influence in this regard is particularly evident from poems like "El Desdichado," which weaves feelings of existential weariness with personalized mytho-poetic landscapes.
This is an original translation of "El Desdichado" by Gérard Nerval from the original French.
Nerval was an important figure in the French Romantic revival. He was also, however, through his influence on André Breton, the forefather of the surrealist movement. His influence in this regard is particularly evident from poems like "El Desdichado," which weaves feelings of existential weariness with personalized mytho-poetic landscapes.
