Sonnet of the Asshole Dark and wrinkled like a violet carnation, It sighs, humbly nestling in the moss still moist from love That follows the descent of sweet white cheeks Down to their edge. Filaments like tears of milk Have wept beneath the cruel south wind That drives them back across the little clots of russet clay, And disappeared there where the slope has called them. My Dream has often kissed its opening; My Soul, that envies mortal intercourse Has chosen this to be its wild and musky nest of sobs. It is the swooning olive and the sweet cajoling flute The tube through which celestial creamy pralines tumble down Female Promised Land rimmed round with dew! d'après Albert Mérat         -- Paul Verlaine (quatrains)         -- Arthur Rimbaud (tercets) other translations to the right...		"Hidden and Wrinkled" Hidden and wrinkled like a budding violet It breathes, gently worn out, in a tangled vine (Still damp with love), on the soft incline Of white buttocks to the rim of the pit. Thin streams like rivers of milk ; innocent Tears, shed beneath hot breath that drives them down Across small clots of rich soil, reddish brown, Where they lose themselves in the dark descent... My mouth always dribbles with its coupling force; My soul, jealous of the body's intercourse, Makes it tearful, wild necessity. Ecstatic olive branch, the flute one blows, The tube where heavenly praline flows, Promised Land in sticky femininity.           -translated by Paul Schmidt		Sonnet in Praise of the Butthole Dark and puckered like a tiny violet eye It breathes, obscurely lurking in a mossy froth Still humid from love that follows the curving soft Slope of snowy ass just past the crease of thigh. A few glistening threads running like milky tears Have wept past the rough hot wind pushing them away, Getting beyond those little gnarls of ruddy clay To lose their way where the echoing downslope veers. In dream I often find my suck-hole on the job; My soul, so jealous of palpable fuckery, Says this is its musky tear-duct, its nest of sobs. It's the swoon-diving olive and the flute cajoled, The pipeline where the celestial praline flows, Feminine Promised Land in the moistening fold.           - translated by Dennis J. Carlile		Obscure and wrinkled like a purple eyelet, It breathes, humbly tapi among foam Humide encor of love which follows the soft escape Of the white Buttocks to the heart of its hem. Similar filaments with milk tears cried, Under the cruel southerly wind which pushes back them A through small russet-red marl clots, To go itself to lose where the slope called them. My Dream was often brought together with its suction cup; My heart, of the material coitus jealous, made of It its fawn-coloured drip and its nest of sobs. It is the pâmée olive, and the flute caline It is the tube where goes down the celestial one dresses: Female Chanaan in enclosed moistnesses!           - Babelfish
Translator's note: In this translation I have done something that is seldom justified: adding in a concept. The last line translates literally as "Feminine canaan enclosed in moisture(s)." Milk, dew, and semen are often symbolic equivalents in European folklore, and since the milk/semen equivalency has been established in the second verse, I have taken the liberty of tweaking the imagery one step further in the last verse.

translations      next: Les Rémembrances du Vieillard idiot

Sonnet du Trou du Cul Obscur et froncé comme un oeillet violet, Il respire, humblement tapi parmi la mousse Humide encor d'amour qui suit la fuite douce Des Fesses blanches jusqu'au coeur de son ourlet. Des filaments pareils à des larmes de lait Ont pleuré, sous l'autan cruel qui les repousse A travers de petits caillots de marne rousse, Pour s'aller perdre où la pente les appelait. Mon Rêve s'aboucha souvent à sa ventouse; Mon âme, du coït matériel jalouse, En fit son larmier fauve et son nid de sanglots. C'est l'olive pâmée, et la flûte caline C'est le tube où descend la céleste praline: Chanaan féminin dans les moiteurs enclos!

translations      next: Les Rémembrances du Vieillard idiot

Translation copyright © 2002 by Slim Volume