Hello
Joy…
Oh, these wide, beautiful days whose mornings blaze!
The burning and proud earth is even more magnificent
And waking life is of such a strong perfume
May the whole being be intoxicated and leap toward joy.
Thank you, my eyes,
To have remained so clear, beneath my already old brow,
To see the light move and vibrate in the distance;
And you, my hands, to shiver in the sun;
And you, my fingers, to bask in the crimson fruits
Hanging along the wall, near the hollyhocks.
Thank you, my body,
To be firm, swift, and still trembling
At the touch of swift winds or deep breezes;
Oh, these festive mornings of calm beauty!
Roses whose dew adorns the pure faces
Birds that came to us, like white omens,
Gardens of massive shade or of frail light!
At the hour when the vast summer warms the avenues,
I love you, paths, by which it came
She who held my fate in her hands;
I love you, distant marshes and austere woods,
And beneath my feet, down to the very depths, I love the earth
Where my dead rest.
I exist in everything that surrounds and penetrates me.
Thick grasses, lost paths, beech thickets,
Clear water that no shadow comes to tarnish,
You become myself as my memory.
Emile Verhaeren, The Multiple Splendor
Marylena