Albert Mérat Poems on Venice - The Skies of Venice

The Skies

“Light, almost immaterial,
Gentle to the eye that reflects them,
I do not know why the skies
Make me lift my head like this.
Without autumns or winters.

Transparent and full of ease,
In the evening in Venice they are green,
Just as Veronese painted them.

A tranquil horizon for the eyes,
In the delicacy of their veils,
Like a harmonious torrent
They let the stars filter through.

The moon in its pearly halo
Shines on a pearl-tinted background;
Illuminated by this candour,
The waves break in a whisper.

Trembling in small folds,
An illusion of the deep sea,
The white rays are buried
In a golden transparency.”
Albert Mérat - Les Villes de Marbre 1869

Venice

“I want to stay here without thinking: I want to live.
My eyes, enamoured with the sky, have no need of books.
The autumn of Venice, spared from the sun,
Will be my reverie and my rosy repose.

0 harmonious days where the hours pass quickly,
You know the song of the waves on the shore.
Listen to the blue waves singing thus,
It is the voice of Greece reaching us here.

O the long, pale lagoons;
The sand avoided, the great brown oars;
Above the clear walls, painted like a backdrop
The straight bell towers topped with golden saints;
Docile, seeming to obey signs.

The gondolas, their necks raised like swans;
All the soothing sounds, all the charming rays,
The nourishing vine branches of strong and mild wines,
And amid these fresh tones, these sweet noises and these flames.
Laughter rising on the lips of women.”
Albert Mérat - Les Villes de Marbre 1869