Baudelaire Translation: the Jewels

Les Bijoux (The Jewels) by Charles Baudelaire loose translation by Michael R. Burch My lover nude and knowing my heart's whims Wore nothing more than a few bright-flashing gems; Her art was saving men despite their sins; She ruled like harem girls crowned with diadems! She danced for me with a gay but mocking air, My world of stone and metal sparking bright; I discovered in her the rapture of everything fair; Nay, an excess of joy where the spirit and flesh unite! Naked she lay and offered herself to me, Parting her legs and smiling receptively, As gentle and yet profound as the rising sea, Till her surging tide encountered my cliff, abruptly. A tigress tamed, her eyes met mine, intent ... Intent on lust, content to purr and please! Her breath, both languid and lascivious, lent An odd charm to her metamorphoses. Her limbs, her loins, her abdomen, her thighs, Oiled alabaster, sinuous as a swan, Writhed pale before my calm clairvoyant eyes; Like clustered grapes her breasts and belly shone. Skilled in more spells than evil imps can muster, To break the peace which had possessed my heart, She flashed her crystal rocks’ hypnotic luster Till my quietude was shattered, blown apart. Her waist awrithe, her breasts enormously Out-thrust, and yet ... and yet, somehow, still coy ... As if stout haunches of Antiope Had been grafted to a boy ... The room grew dark, the lamp had flickered out. Mute firelight, alone, lit each glowing stud; Each time the fire sighed, as if in doubt, It steeped her pale, rouged flesh in pools of blood. This translation has been adopted by **** and escort websites! The Perfect Courtesan by Michael R. Burch after Baudelaire, for the courtesans She received me into her cavities, indulging my darkest depravities with such trembling longing, I felt her need ... Such was the dalliance to which we agreed— she, my high rider; I, her wild steed. She surrendered her all and revealed to me— the willing handmaiden, delighted to please, the Perfect Courtesan of Ecstasy.