BLACKlittleTHORN

Arthur Rimbaud - Le Dormeur du Val (1870)

Sunday, July 17, 2011 2:53:12 PM

The Sleeper of the Vale

It’s a gully of green where sings a river
Desperately hanging on the grass its rags
Of silver; where the sun, from the proud mount,
Shines: it’s a little vale that foams of rays.

A young soldier, mouth open, head bare,
And his neck bathing in the cool blue cress,
Sleeps; he is stretched out in the grass, ‘neath the sky,
Pale on his green bed where the light rains.

His feet in the gladiolas, he sleeps. Smiling like
A sick child smiles, he takes a snooze:
Nature, cradle him warmly: he is cold.

The scents do not make his nostrils quiver;
He sleeps in the sun, one hand on his peaceful
Chest. He has two red holes in his right side.