Chapter 10 beautiful

O world, I am beautiful, like a stone's dream, My heart that hurts everyone one after another, Born to inspire a love in poets, Eternal and mute as matter. I am like a mysterious sphinx, king of the blue sky, I combine the heart of snow with the whiteness of the swan, I am disgusted by the movement of moving lines, ① I never cry and I never laugh. The poets see my majestic gesture, As if borrowed from the proudest monument, They also study hard and kill time, For, to confuse the submissive lover, I have a mirror that makes everything more beautiful, My eyes, big eyes that always shine!

Translated by Qian Chunqi This poem was first published in the French Review on April 20, 1857.Comparing beauty to the expressionlessness and insensibility of marble statues shows the ideal of beauty of the Barnesian poets.The dream (ideal) of marble (substance) illustrates the duality of beauty.Marble seems to be eternal, immobile, and speechless, but its coldness and lifelessness are greatly alleviated by its mysterious dream and large eyes that are always shining. ①Love the movement of the line, that is, hate life.The poet believes that looking at the lifeless nature has infinite beauty.