I breathe where you throb,
You know ; What good, alas!
Stay there if you leave me,
And live if you go away?
What is good to live, being the shadow
Of that angel who runs away?
What good is it, under the dark sky,
Being nothing but the night?
I am the flower of the walls
Which April is the only good.
It's enough that you go away
So that nothing remains.
You surround me with Aureoles;
Seeing you is my only concern.
It's enough for you to fly
So that I fly away too.
If you leave, my forehead bends;
My soul in heaven, its cradle,
Fuira, in your white hand
You hold this wild bird.
What do you want me to become
If I can not hear you?
Is it your life or mine
Who's going? I do not know.
When my storm falls,
I take you back in your pure heart;
I am like the dove
Who comes to drink at the lake of azure.
Love makes the soul understand
The universe, salubrious and blessed;
And this little flame
Only illuminates the infinite
Without you, all nature
It is no more than a closed dungeon,
Where I go to adventure,
Pale and no longer loved.
Without you, everything fades and falls;
The shadow fills my black eyebrow;
A feast is a grave,
The country is an exile.
I implore and claim you;
Do not flee from my evils,
O warbler of my soul
Who sings in my branches!
What can I want,
What can I have frightened of,
What will I do with my life?
If you are not near me?
You carry in the light,
You're in the bushes,
On one wing my prayer,
And on the other my songs.
What will I say to the fields that sail
The inconsolable pain?
What shall I do with the star?
What shall I do with the flower?
What will I say to the morose wood
What kindled your sweetness?
What will I answer to the rose
Saying, “Where is my sister? “
I shall die; Flee, if you dare.
What good is it, days gone by!
Watch all these things
That she no longer looks?
What shall I do with the lyre,
Of virtue, of destiny?
Alas! And, without your smile,
What shall I do in the morning?
What shall I do, alone, fierce,
Without you, of the day and the heavens,
From my kisses without your mouth,
And my tears without your eyes!
Victor Hugo.
