The flower floating on the water
Gabriel Fauré
On the sea which was veiled
in bitter fog
the Fair Lady set out
at night, on the sea!
Between her lips
indignantly she held
the "Rose of the Fevers",
the Beauty Rose!
The shrieking tempest
with its fierce breath
kissed her on the mouth
and took the flower!
In the sombre ocean
(already less sombre)
where the three-master sank,
the flower floated.
The waves ignored it
in their dark furrows.
It was a buoy attracting
the butterflies.
And ever since that night
the spray, the swell,
the breakers crashing
with savage noise,
the kingfishers, the swallows
the sailing-boats nearby,
the shadows and the stars
have been pining away -
and the dawn breaking
over the bright deep water
- for love of the only rose
on the whole wide ocean!