Invitation to the voyage

My child, my sister,

think of the sweetness

of going there to live together!

To love at leisure,

to love and to die

in a country that is the image of you!

The misty suns

of those changeable skies

have for me the same

mysterious charm

as your fickle eyes

shining through their tears.

There, all is harmony and beauty,

luxury, calm and delight.

Gleaming furniture

polished by age

would decorate our bedroom;

the rarest of flowers

would mingle their fragrance

with the vague scent of amber;

the rich ceilings,

the deep mirrors,

the splendor of the Orient -

everything there

would speak in secret

the soul's soft native tongue.

There, all is harmony and beauty,

luxury, calm and delight.

See how those ships,

nomads by nature,

are slumbering in the canals.

To gratify

your every desire

they have come from the ends of the earth.

The westering suns

clothe the fields,

the canals, and the town

with reddish-orange and gold.

The world falls asleep

bathed in warmth and light.

There, all is harmony and beauty,

luxury, calm and delight.