Les Conquerants

Les Conquerants

Original Text

Representative French Poetry, ed. Victor E. Graham, 2nd edn. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1965): 93. From Les Trophées, 1893 (Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance: Les Conquérants).

1Comme un vol de gerfauts hors du charnier natal,
2Fatigués de porter leurs misères hautaines,
3De Palos de Moguer, routiers et capitaines
4Partaient, ivres d'un rêve héroïque et brutal.
5Ils allaient conquérir le fabuleux métal
6Que Cipango mûrit dans ses mines lointaines,
7Et les vents alizés inclinaient leurs antennes
8Aux bords mystérieux du monde Occidental.
9Chaque soir, espérant des lendemains épiques,
10L'azur phosphorescent de la mer des Tropiques
11Enchantait leur sommeil d'un mirage doré;
12Ou, penchés à l'avant des blanches caravelles,
13Ils regardaient monter en un ciel ignoré
14Du fond de l'Océan des étoiles nouvelles.

Notes

1] charnier because it is full of bones. Back to Line
3] Palos de Moguer: the port in Andalusia from which Columbus sailed in 1492.
routiers: soldiers of fortune. Back to Line
6] Cipango: Japan. According to alchemical theory, gold was formed when base elements were transmuted after a long process involving the steady application of slow heat. Back to Line
12] caravelles: three-masted sailing vessels with high prows and poops. Back to Line
Publication Notes

This sonnet was first published in <i>Sonnets et Eaux-fortes</i>, 1868. The title is
a direct translation of the Spanish <i>Conquistadores</i>.
 

RPO poem Editors
Victor E. Graham
Data entry: Sharine Leung
RPO Edition
2012
Rhyme
abba abba ccd ede
Special Copyright

Second edition copyright © 1965 University of Toronto Press. Reprinted with permission of the publisher, from which written permission must be obtained for any other edition or other means of reproduction.