Le Dormeur Du Val
gholes
The Sleeper in the Valley
It's a patch of green where a river sings,
Wildly hanging rags of silver on the grass;
Where the sun, from the proud mountain, brings
Its light: it's a little valley sparkling with rays.
A young soldier, mouth open, head bare,
And the back of his neck soaking in the cool blue cress,
Sleeps; he's lying in the grass, under the sky,
Pale in his green bed where the light rains down.
With his feet in the gladiolus, he sleeps. Smiling like
A sick child, he takes a nap:
Nature, nature, rock him warm: he's cold.
The scents don't make his nostrils quiver;
He sleeps in the sun, his hand on his chest,
Calm. He has two red holes in his right side.
