Poemquotes 13 - "III. Elevation" by Charles Baudelaire

my translation

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III. Elevation - The Flowers of Evil
[III. Élévation] [Les fleurs du mal]

Above the ponds, above the valleys,
The mountains, the woods, the clouds, the seas,
On the other side of the sun, on the other side of the ethers,
On the other side of the far reaches of the starry spheres,

My spirit, you move with agility,
And, like a fine swimmer fainting in the flow,
You gaily traverse the deep immensity
With an unspeakable and manly delight.

Take flight far off from these morbid miasmas;
Go purify yourself in the superior air,
And drink, like a pure and divine liquor,
The clear light filling limpid spaces.

Behind the troubles and the vast sorrows
That encumber hazy existence with their load,
Happy the one who is able with vigorous wing
To set off toward the luminous and serene fields;

The one whose thinkings, like skylarks,
Take one free flight toward the heavens at morning,
— Gliding over life, and effortlessly comprehending
The language of flowers and silent things!

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