Absence

Paul Eluard 1895 (Saint-Denis) – 1952 (Charenton-le-Pont)



I speak to you over cities
I speak to you over plains
My mouth is against your ear
The two sides of the walls face
my voice which acknowledges you.
I speak to you of eternity.
O cities memories of cities
cities draped with our desires
cities early and late
cities strong cities intimate
stripped of all their makers
their thinkers their phantoms
Landscape ruled by emerald
live living ever-living
the wheat of the sky on our earth
nourishes my voice I dream and cry
I laugh and dream between the flames
between the clusters of sunlight
And over my body your body extends
the layer of its clear mirror.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

33 sec read
155

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFAGHIGJKLMNOPQR
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 590
Words 112
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 20

Paul Eluard

Paul Éluard, born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel, was a French poet who was one of the founders of the surrealist movement. more…

All Paul Eluard poems | Paul Eluard Books

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