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Read more poems by Charles Baudelaire: Charles Baudelaire Poems at Poetry X.

To bear a weight that cannot be borne, 
Sisyphus, even you aren't that strong, 
Although your heart cannot be torn 
Time is short and Art is long. 
Far from celebrated sepulchers 
Toward a solitary graveyard 
My heart, like a drum muffled hard 
Beats a funeral march for the ill-starred. 

—Many jewels are buried or shrouded 
In darkness and oblivion's clouds, 
Far from any pick or drill bit, 

Many a flower unburdens with regret 
Its perfume sweet like a secret; 
In profoundly empty solitude to sit. 


Translated by William A. Sigler


Submitted by Ryan McGuire

Added: 2 Sep 2002 | Last Read: 7 Jun 2025 9:44 AM | Viewed: 7630 times

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