Thee Sleeper in the Valley
There’s a recess in the greenery where the river sings
Tangling wildly in the grass its silvered
Rags, where the sun from the proud mountain
Glimmers : it’s a little valley bubbling over with light.
A
young soldier, open-mouthed, bare-headed,
And nape softly bathing in the cool blue cresses,
Sleeps; he’s spread out on the grass, under skies,
Pale on his green bed where the light rains down.
Feet
in the gladiolas, he sleeps. Smiling like
A sick child would smile, he dozes.
Warmly lull him Nature, he’s cold.
The
scents no longer make his nostrils quiver;
He sleeps in the sun, hand on his chest
Tranquil. He has two red holes on his right side.
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October 1870, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) |