Forsaking for a month the ladies of the
Faubourg
This evening I am thinking of you, young people of Cabourg;
Who some day perhaps will one day like a book of mine
All the more, when I had already ceased to be!
Under unknown names, Gobert or Delaunay,
Who among us knows if a poet has not been born,
Or some friendly spirit, who in my brief pages,
When I am no more, will disentangle my dreams!
Who knows whether the future, behind your laughing faces
Does not conceal great and serious things
Or whether these golfers, exalted by love,
Will not produce a poet, one day!
First of all (I have my faults as you have
yours)
I could not tell you apart one from another!
Between all the Parents, Donons, Foucarts,
Or even Delaunays, the difference seemed slight,
And I asked myself which infallible sign
Could clearly distinguish Gobert from Plantevigne.
Just as in autumn we see more and more swallows
Gather together, to deliberate as they shake their wings
So all assembled in no small groups
You emit your loud cries as you make your grand gestures!
And just as the Romans thought the Cimbri teutons
Please excuse me, I was thinking of the stamp collecting market!
Then words, loud cries, about golf, about the championship
Give me a real sense of the boarding school.
In his red smock I recognize Plantevigne
Whose pretty name calls out to the memory.
Foucart has the air of a seeker, Parent an air of sarcasm.
Sometimes Delaunay alone and more melancholy
In the face with a truly classic purity
A little dry to my mind (yes, but what is more important
A very good lady finds him to have beautiful eyes)
Walking along like a young sage in Greece.
A long pensive reflection lit up his face.
Yesterday for a mascot he fixed his opera glass
On a frightful actress who to him seemed a beauty;
And if I smiled about it may he pardon me quickly,
Just as he made fun of my overcoat, we will be quits!
But I would not wish any resentment from him
Because his two sisters, with such fine figures
[Incomplete]
Written on Grand Hotel, Cabourg notepaper.
Created 17.11.19