English translations of Deux Mélodies, opus 18

Tonight you will carefully place in every vase
a spray of flowers, trembling and still moist.
Put no candles in the bedroom - where your dear paleness
will drown like a dream in mists of gauze.

To breathe our happiness strongly,
play the sad piano, which will tremble with tears,
and make your hands sing of angelic sorrows -
and I will listen, silent with ecstasy.

Thus we will make love, severely, without speaking.
A single kiss at times on your slender fingers
will be the drop of water that overflows the jug,

O Sister! and in the sky of our purity
the virginal Desire of taciturn loves
will rise slowly like a silvery star.

The night is blue and warm, its calm is infinite...
Wrapped up in his coat, his tired head resting on a stone,
Joseph is sleeping with a pure heart, having said his prayers;
And the donkey at his feet is like a humble friend.
 
Between the Sphinx's paws, half-leaning,
The virgin, pale and sweet, has closed her eyes;
And in the shade, a strange and gentle light
Glows from baby Jesus in her arms.
 
Around them, the desert, a mysterious dream;
And all is so quiet, at this time, in this place,
That one can hear the child breathe under her veils.
 
No wind...  The fire's thin smoke
Spirals up, like a long thread, losing itself in the sky...
And the eternal sphinx watches over the stars.