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For Dominique de
Villepin
‘…good and faithful servant…enter thou into the joy of
the Lord.’
Matthew 25: 20-23
Emotion, make us return to the truth
of our entire lives,
of all that we are!
Make us regain the transparent innocence,
the poetry which upholds the universe,
the love which never lets things
fall into ruins!
Make us go back to the source from whence we come,
crystal clear emotion,
back to where imagination is entombed
in the centre of our Being!
Bring again into the light of free-flowing tenderness
our sweet buried secrets,
the words of light we put aside,
the murmurs of distant nights,
the kisses of spring times that swooned
in the green embrace of thrusting grasses!
Give them life, O divine emotion,
put back together the innermost unity
of a world so incomprehensibly split asunder!
Make the powerful rivers
which guide our dreamlike thoughts towards
the ample depths of the earth,
cross the trembling pages of our bodies!
May silences full of the traces of radiance
where you can discern the warm presence of the immortal gods,
give in to the call from that very thing in us
which can become singing essence, brightness and blue sky,
as soon as the supreme poetry of simple things
touches it with its grace!
Give back to the word its sublime vocation,
restore the first sacrament to the mouth which speaks the word,
reinstate the devastating generosity of the scrupulous heart,
return to the thoughtful pansy its pure faith
as it waits, locked in the sadness,
the emerald dew – the rich gift of morning!
Make us look at the world from the place
where our changeless goodness lies -
on the plane, emotion, of ordinary life,
neither from above nor below!
Thus, O magic emotion,
we might finally harmonise
the elevated beauty of our souls
with the sweet scents of wisteria
which floats, exalted, outside
under the blazing breath
of the vast, the immortal stars!
Thus, O heavenly emotion,
will we belong
to the bright wide nights
which lead
the immense universe
invisibly
confidently
and serenely
towards the perfect fulfilment
of the Dawn!
Translated from the French by Norton Hodges
Paris, april 1st, Anno Domini MMIV – 11h05
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