Paul Valery Translation of Secret Ode

PAUL VALERY TRANSLATION: “SECRET ODE” “Secret Ode” is a poem by the French poet Paul Valéry about collapsing after a vigorous dance, watching the sun set, and seeing the immensity of the night sky as the stars begin to appear. Ode secrète (“Secret Ode”) by Paul Valéry loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch The fall so exquisite, the ending so soft, the struggle’s abandonment so delightful: depositing the glistening body on a bed of moss, after the dance! Who has ever seen such a glow illuminate a triumph as these sun-brightened beads crowning a sweat-drenched forehead! Here, touched by the dusk's last light, this body that achieved so much by dancing and outdoing Hercules now mimics the drooping rose-clumps! Sleep then, our all-conquering hero, come so soon to this tragic end, for now the many-headed Hydra reveals its Infiniteness … Behold what Bull, what Bear, what Hound, what Visions of limitless Conquests beyond the boundaries of Time the soul imposes on formless Space! This is the supreme end, this glittering Light beyond the control of mere monsters and gods, as it gloriously reveals the matchless immensity of the heavens! Paul Valery’s bio from Poets.org: Paul Valéry (1871–1945) Poet, essayist, and thinker Paul Ambroise Valéry was born in the Mediterranean town of Séte, France, on October 30, 1871. He attended the lycée at Montpellier and studied law at the University of Montpellier. Valéry left school early to move to Paris and pursue a life as a poet. In Paris, he was a regular member of Stéphane Mallarmé's Tuesday evening salons. It was at this time that he began to publish poems in avant-garde journals. In 1892, while visiting relatives in Genoa, Valéry underwent a stark personal transformation. During a violent thunderstorm, he determined that he must free himself "at no matter what cost, from those falsehoods: literature and sentiment." He devoted the next twenty years to studying mathematics, philosophy, and language. From 1892 until 1912, he wrote no poetry. He did begin, however, to keep his ideas and notes in a series of journals, which were published in twenty-nine volumes in 1945. He also wrote essays and the book "La Soirée avec M. Teste" ("The Evening with Monsieur Teste," 1896). #MRB-VALERY #MRBVALERY Keywords/Tags: Paul Valery, French poem, English translation, sea, seaside, soul, souls, dance, sun, sunset, dusk, night, stars