Versos English Charles Baudelaire Xvi

English poem

Xvi

by (1821–1867)

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And now no sacred staff shall break in blossom, No choral salutation lure to light A spirit with perfume and sweet night And love's tired eyes and hands and barren bosom. There is no help for these things; none to mend, And none to mar; not all our songs, O friend, Will make death clear or make life durable. Howbeit with rose and ivy and wild vine And with wild notes about this dust of thine At least I fill the place where white dreams dwell And wreathe an unseen shrine.