Gautier, "Le spectre de la rose"
A poem ("The specter of the rose") by this Frenchman, and the basis of this musical work. You can read the original here.
No more your softest lids do close,
No longer graze a virgin dream:
I am the specter of the rose
You wore as yesterday's ball queen.
You took me still impearled in tears,
The pourer's silver drops relieved;
Amidst the starry sky so clear,
You walked me all that darkling eve.
O you, who caused my mortal throes,
Shall not dispel this looming dread,
That all the night my specter rose
Will come and dance beside your bed.
But do not fear, I shall not dole
In Mass, or De Profundis wail;
For this faint scent is my own soul
And from sweet paradise I hail.
So enviable was my fate:
For such a beautiful demise
So many wouldn't have wished to wait;
My tomb beneath your bosom lies,
And on the alabaster white,
Inscribes a poet with a kiss:
"Here lies a rose of petals bright
Which every king will wish were his."
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