L'amour Malade. (Translation) . Poem by Michael Walker

L'amour Malade. (Translation) .

Oh l'amour, nourissez-vous de pommes tandis que vous le pouvez,
Et sentez le soleil et allez en des vetements royaux,
Un innocent souriant sur la chaussee celeste,

Cependant en quel horreur en essayant d'ecouter le cri
Qui plane dans le noir exterieur tristement,
La bete muette et aveugle, le courroux paranoide:

Rechauffez-vous, goutez la saison, levez la tete,
Exquise au pouls du sang corrompu,
Cette gloire miroitante a ne pas etre dedaignee.

Jouissez-vous du momentane,
Marchez entre le noir et le noir-une espace brillante
Etroite comme la tombe, manquant cependant sa paix.

- ' Sick Love'. Robert Graves. 'The New Oxford Book of English Verse', p.904. Edited by Helen Gardner.

Monday, May 7, 2018
Topic(s) of this poem: love
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
The poem is addressed to love, which should feel the sun, and be dressed in the best clothes. This is true of a man and a woman, who are more likely to love each other if dressed fashionably. If things go wrong for them, either one could fly into a 'paranoiac fury'. In this respect 'Sick Love' is like Stevenson's 'Love, What Is Love'.
He continues, advising love to 'be warm, enjoy the season', and walk head held high. Take delight in what is fleeting, short-lived, 'Walk between dark and dark', with the narrow, single-mindedness of the grave, ' though not its peace'.
One of the most balanced, dazzling love poems I have ever read.
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