Near the fisherman who is rowing,
While we both, in the dying day,
Wander in the little boat,
Letting the frail man sing
And the powerful wave groan;

2. Under the shelter that the sails make
While we sit
In this shadow where you veil yourself
When your gaze at the stars
Seems to gather rays of light;

3. When we both think to read
What nature writes,
Answer, o you, whom I admire!
How come my heart sighs?
How come your countenance smiles?

4. Say, how come at each swell,
Like a cup of bile,
Thought fills my soul?
It is that I, I see the rowing,
While you see heaven!

5. It is that I see the dark waves,
You, the enchanted stars!
It is that, lost in their numbers,
Alas, I count the shadows,
While you count the lights!

6. Everyone, it is the supreme law,
Rows, alas, to the end.
There is no man,  O fatal problem!
Who does not labor or sow
On something futile!
 
7. Man is on a thundering flood.
The hurricane twists his coat.
He rows in the deep night
And hope goes away in the wave
By the vents of the boat.
 
8. Its sail in which the wind makes a hole
Tears itself up at all times
From its path the water plays itself out
The obstacles on its prow
Foam incessantly.
 
9. Alas, alas, all work
Under your eyes, O Jehovah!
From whichever side one may go
Everywhere [there is] a flood that quivers
Everywhere [there is] a man that goes.
 
10.  Where do you go?   Toward the dark night.
Where do you go?  Toward the great day.
You! I search to see if one should believe.
And you?  I go toward glory.
And you?  I go toward love.
 
11. You all go to the grave!
You go to the unknown!
Eagle, vulture, or dove,
You go where all come down
And from which nothing has returned.
 
12.  You go where there still go
Those who make the most noise
Where goes the flower that April gilds!
You go where the dawn goes!
You go where the night goes!
 
13.  What good are all these pains?
Why so many jealous cares?
Drink the wave from the fountains
Shake the acorn from the oaks
Love, and fall back to sleep!
 
14.  While, just as bees
One has always worked;
That one has dreamed of marvels
While one has on many vigils
Piled up many days;
 
15. On your most beautiful rose
On your most beautiful lily,
Do you know what lands?
It is the forgetfulness for every thing
For every man the grave!
 
16.  Since the Lord takes from us
The fruits gathered with difficulty
He says "Run aground!" to the boat.
He says to the flame: "Go out!"
He says to the flower: "Fade!"
 
17. He says to the soldier who fails:
--I watch the last word.
Climb, climb, O King of the world!
The deepest fall
Hangs at the highest summit.
 
18. He says to the mortal worman:
Quickly!  Dazzle your lover.
Before dying, be beautiful.
Be for an instant a spark
Then eternally an ash!
 
19. This order to which you oppose yourself
Envelopes you and sinks you.
Mortal, complain if you dare,
To God, who makes these two things,
The great heaven, the small man!
 
20. Each one, whether he doubts or denies,
Fights in making his way;
And the eternal harmony
Weighs likes an irony
On every human tumult.
 
21.  All the false goods that one wants
Pass as a May evening.
Toward the shadow, alas! All diverts
What remains of life
Except for having loved!
 
22. Therefore I bend my head
While you lift up your forehead
Therefore, on the unquiet wave,
I listen, somber poet,
To what the floods will say to me.
 
23.  Therefore, in order that I be answered,
I ask with fear;
And in this charm where I probe
The mire mixes itself with the wave.
Oh, don't do as I do!

24. That on the troubled wave
I lower a crazed brow
But you, a beautiful veiled soul,
Toward star-filled hope
Raises a calm expression!

25. You do well, see the heaven shine,
See the  stars reflected there.
An instinct toward the higher draws you,
You see God smile;
Me, I see man weep!