The Shining Hours (XI) - Emile Verhaeren

How readily delight is aroused in her,
with her eyes of fiery ecstasy,
she who is gentle and resigned
before life in so simple a fashion.

This evening, how a look surprised her
fervour and a word transported her
to the pure garden of gladness,
where she was at once both queen and servant.

Humble of herself, but aglow with our two selves,
she vied with me in kneeling to gather
the wondrous happiness that overflowed
mutually from our hearts.

We listened to the dying down in us of the violence
of the exalting love imprisoned in our arms,
and to the living silence
that said words we did not know.

---

Emile Verhaeren (1855 - 1916) Belgium
Translated by F.S. Flint
Source: The love poems of Emile Verhaeren, Translated by F.S. Flint, Constable and Co., 1916