The Jewels Poem by Charles Baudelaire

The Jewels

Rating: 2.9


My well-beloved was stripped. Knowing my whim,
She wore her tinkling gems, but naught besides:
And showed such pride as, while her luck betides,
A sultan's favoured slave may show to him.

When it lets off its lively, crackling sound,
This blazing blend of metal crossed with stone,
Gives me an ecstasy I've only known
Where league of sound and luster can be found.

She let herself be loved: then, drowsy-eyed,
Smiled down from her high couch in languid ease.
My love was deep and gentle as the seas
And rose to her as to a cliff the tide.

My own approval of each dreamy pose,
Like a tamed tiger, cunningly she sighted:
And candour, with lubricity united,
Gave piquancy to every one she chose.

Her limbs and hips, burnished with changing lustres,
Before my eyes clairvoyant and serene,
Swanned themselves, undulating in their sheen;
Her breasts and belly, of my vine and clusters,

Like evil angels rose, my fancy twitting,
To kill the peace which over me she'd thrown,
And to disturb her from the crystal throne
Where, calm and solitary, she was sitting.

So swerved her pelvis that, in one design,
Antiope's white rump it seemed to graft
To a boy's torso, merging fore and aft.
The talc on her brown tan seemed half-divine.

The lamp resigned its dying flame. Within,
The hearth alone lit up the darkened air,
And every time it sighed a crimson flare
It drowned in blood that amber-coloured skin.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Edward Kofi Louis 01 May 2016

She left herself be loved! ! Thanks for sharing.

0 1 Reply
Conny Denker 11 January 2017

Is it too much to ask for adding the name of the person who translated that poem from the French into English, namely 'Roy Campell'? ! Reference: The Penguin Book of Love Poetry, pp.170/171 Thank you!

0 0 Reply
M Asim Nehal 01 May 2016

Good one, Enjoyable The lamp resigned its dying flame. Within, The hearth alone lit up the darkened air, And every time it sighed a crimson flare It drowned in blood that amber-coloured skin.

1 0 Reply
Lupee Awe 01 May 2016

A journey of passion indeed

1 0 Reply
Pranab K Chakraborty 01 May 2016

Like evil angels rose, my fancy twitting, To kill the peace which over me she'd thrown, Always a poet anywhere on surface or in air just waiting to ignite himself with such thrust of passion. Beautiful force of writing cool and submissive poetry.

2 0 Reply
Barry Middleton 01 May 2016

Baudelaire wrote some hot poetry.

1 0 Reply
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