vendredi, poésie

"You," WH Auden (1960)

       

Really, must you,
        Over-familiar
        Dense companion,
        Be there always?
        The bond between us
        Is chimerical surely:
        Yet I cannot break it.

       

Must I, born for
        Sacred play,
        Turn base mechanic
        So you may worship
        Your secular bread,
        With no thought
        Of the value of time?

       

Thus far I have known your
        Character only
        From its pleasanter side,
        But you know I know
        A day will come
        When you grow savage
        And hurt me badly.

Continue reading

the original poem

W.H. Auden (1934)

For what as easy
For what though small
For what is well
Because between
To you simply
From me I mean.

Who goes with who
The bedclothes say
As I and you
Go kissed away
The data given
The senses even.

Fate is not late
Nor the ghost houseless
Nor the speech re-written
Nor the tongue listless
Nor the word forgotten
Said at the start
About heart
By heart, for heart.