Nepenthe

I kept my dreams inside a broken phial
And lit the mouldy incense on the ground.
My dreams took wings and fled, and, through the aisle,
The incense spread out dim smoke all around.

I sat beneath the old and verdant oak,
I seized a bunch of lilies in my hand,
And fell deeply asleep. When I awoke,
Their withered leaves were scattered on the sand.

I quaffed the waters from the limpid lake,
Whose white nenuphars float among the reeds,
And felt an ardour down inside of me.

I lower my head as in a lonesome wake.
And, when I've sown all my cancerous seeds,
A shadow will erase my memory.