Glaukos1
To be inscribed beneath a tableau.
I want to describe the charming Glaukos,
gently gathering up a heap of his love letters in a ray of
sunlight. All written on fine perfumed paper, some already old,
some from a few months ago, all of them beginning with: My dear
little Glaukos, or my darling Glaukos, or oh you, the best of my
friends, or little soft flesh of mine, or my little beloved.
Glaukos smiles at the memory of great violent
passions that stirred him in days gone by, his lovely clear eyes,
blue flowers2, dimming for a
moment, drawing him back onto his sleepless bed, filling his mind
with foolish fancies and infinite despairs.
All his hopeless dreams of being loved as
distractedly as he loved, by this person or that person, he had
realized almost all of them. But satisfied love flies elsewhere.
Today his heart is calm. But he has so many male friends and by
some he is loved boundlessly. All of them are very beautiful, and
delight in subtle thoughts. Often seated on the muscular knees of
one of them, cheek to cheek, bodies entwined, he discusses with
him Aristotle's philosophy and Euripedes' poems, while they
embrace and caress each other, making elegant and wise remarks in
the sumptuous room, beside magnificent flowers...
I have described Glaukos dreaming alone, nearly
naked to show off his beauty before dressing in precious linen.
He smiles and the sun warms him.
Written before 15 October 1888.
1. The young Marcel submitted this piece for La Revue lilas but it was considered too scandalous for publication by his school friends.
2. In Greek the adjective glaukos can designate a shade of pale blue when describing young men's eyes.