Amicale

On this Friday 25 March, the 14th day of the "Printemps des Poètes", we share one of the favourite poems of our colleague, Clémentine BALLAND.

LE DORMEUR DU VAL

It is a green hole where a river sings,
Clinging madly to the grass with silver rags
Of silver; where the sun, from the proud mountain,
Gleams: it is a little valley foaming with rays.

A young soldier, open-mouthed, bare-headed,
And his neck bathed in fresh blue watercress,
Sleeps; he lies in the grass, under the cloud,
Pale in his green bed where the light rains.

With his feet in the gladioli, he sleeps. Smiling like a sick child
A sick child smiles, he snoozes:
Nature, rock him warmly: he is cold.

Perfumes do not make his nostrils tingle;
He sleeps in the sun, with his hand on his chest,
Quiet. He has two red holes in his right side.

Arthur RIMBAUD.