To a Woman, Translation of Paul Verlaine's Sonnet: a Une Femme

To a woman (In this traslation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet : « A une femme », I have retained the rhyme scheme to the letter, I hope. T. Wignesan) To you these lines in faith must console I address : A sweet dream laughs and cries in your large eyes through The purity of your soul which is wholly good, to you These lines from the depths of my turbulent distress. Just that, Alas ! the nightmare which haunts me hideous Allows no respite and furious, mad and jealous continue Multiplying themselves like wolves in a funeral retinue Hanging on to my fate which at their mercy they harrass ! Oh ! how I suffer, I suffer hopelessly, so mean That the initial whimperings of the first man Banished from Eden a mere eclogue to the cost I wean. ! And the minor discomforts you may endure in comparison Are like the swallows in the sky on an afternoon - My Dear – make the beautiful warm September day a boon ! © T. Wignesan – Paris, 2013