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Arthur Rimbaud – from Rimbaud Complete [translated by Wyatt Mason]

I know skies split by lightning, waterspouts
And undertows, and tides; I know the night,
And dawn exulting like a crowd of doves.
I  have even seen what man dreams he has.
 
I have seen the low sun stained with mystic horror,
Lit with long violet weals like actors
In some ancient play, waves unrolling
Their shuddering paddles into the distance.
 
I have dreamt green nights ablaze with snow,
Kisses climbing the eyes of the sea,
Unimaginable humors circulating freely
Blue and yellow heavings of phosphorescent song!
…..
I’ve seen Leviathan rotting whole
In reedy clots of putrid swamp; seen
Dead calm shattered by watery collapse;
Distant views caving beneath misty cataracts.
 
Silver suns, pearly waves, Glaciers and embered skies!
Shipwrecks at the borders of brown gulfs
Where giant serpents smelling of the dark
Tumble from twisted trees, a feast for bugs
….
Scarred with electric crescent moons,
A lunatic plank escorted by black sea horses –
I fled, as July’s hammering heat
Beat ultramarine skies into smouldering pits