Contrerime XLIII

Ainsi, ce chemin de nuage,
     Vous ne le prendrez point,
D'où j'ai vu me sourire au loin
     Votre brillant mirage ?

Le soir d'or sur les étangs bleus
     D'une étrange savane,
Où pleut la fleur de frangipane,
     N'éblouira vos yeux ;

Ni les feux de la luciole
     Dans cette épaisse nuit
Que tout à coup perce l'ennui
     D'un tigre qui miaule.

So you state your resistance
     To taking the cloudy way,
Where I saw your shining fay
     Smile at me from a distance.

The gold of eve on the pools of blue
     Of a strange savannah
That rains frangipane
     Will not dazzle you;

Nor the light of fireflies
     In the night’s depth
That abruptly is ripped
     By a bored tiger’s cries.

NOTES:

The section of Behanzigue entitled "le cri dans la nuit" gives details of the impressions that inspired this poem: "From Hue to go to Tourane, instead of railroad, if we prefer to stick to the the ancient road of the Col des Nuages, we rent one of these black-bellied sampans ". Further on Toulet speaks of "a thousand fireflies leading in the air their luminous dance" and shows the appearance of a tiger. The Col des Nuages also merits a mention in his Journal.