Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto

Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper

Et in saecula saeculorum
Amen

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

As it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.
Amen.

Il duolo infranga
queste ritorte
de’ miei martiri
sol per pietà

May sorrow shatter
these chains,
of my torments
for pity alone.

L’étang reflète
Profond miroir,
La silhouette
Du saule noir
Où le vent pleure.
Rêvons, c’est l’heure.

Un vaste et tendre
Apaisement
Semble descendre
Du firmament
Que l’astre irise.
C’est l’heure exquise!

The pond reflects,
Deep mirror,
The silhouette
Of the black willow
Where the wind weeps…
Let us dream, it is the hour.

A vast and tender
Solace
Seems to descend
From the heavens
The iridescent moon shines…
It is the exquisite hour!

Ils voleraient, étincelles,
Vers votre foyer qui rit,
Si mes vers avaient des ailes,
Comme l’esprit.

Près de vous, purs et fidèles,
Ils accourraient nuit et jour,
Si mes vers avaient des ailes,
Comme l’amour.

They would fly, like sparks,
To your smiling hearth,
If my verses had wings,
Like the mind.

Pure and faithful, to your side
They’d hasten night and day,
If my verses had wings,
Like love!
—English translation © Richard Stokes

Quand l’azur déchire ses voiles,
Nous voyons les bleus firmaments,
Les cieux resplendissant d’Étoiles,
Aux radieux frissonnements.

Quel peintre mettra sur ses toiles,
O dieu! leurs clairs fourmillements,
Ces fournaises de diamants
Qu’à nos yeux ravis tu dévoiles,
Les cieux resplendissants d’Étoiles?

When the sky tears its veils,
We see the blue firmament,
The skies resplendent with stars
Shimmering with radiance.

What painter will put on his canvases,
O god! their bright glittering,
These furnaces of diamonds
Revealed to our delighted eyes,
The skies resplendent with stars?

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

My very dear Sarah:

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days—perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write again, I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall upon your eye when I am no more.

I have no misgivings about or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American civilization now leans on the triumph of the government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the revolution. And I am willing, perfectly willing to lay down all my joys in this life to help maintain this government, and to pay that debt.

Sarah, my love for you is deathless It seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but omnipotence could break; and yet my love of country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me unresistably on with all these chains to the battlefield. The mem’ries of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long.

And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our sons grown up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, but a few and small claims upon divine providence, but something whispers to me, perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar, that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed.

If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.

Forgive my faults and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have oftentimes been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears ev’ry little spot upon your happiness …

But, oh, Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the gladdest days and in the darkest nights, always, always. And if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again.

Manhattan, I’m awfully nice,
Nice people dine with me
and even twice.

Yet the only one in the world I’m mad about
Talks of somebody else and walks out.

With a million neon rainbows burning below me
And a million blazing taxis raising a roar
Here I sit, above the town in my pet pailletted gown
Down in the depths on the ninetieth floor.

While the crowds in all the nightclubs punish the parquet
And the bars are packed with couples calling for more
I’m deserted and depressed in my regal eagle nest
Down in the depths on the ninetieth floor.

When the only one you wanted wants another
What’s the use of swank and cash in the bank galore?
Why, even the janitor’s wife has a perfectly good love life
And here am I facing tomorrow, alone with my sorrow
Down in the depths on the ninetieth floor.

When the only one you wanted wants another
What’s the use of swank and cash in the bank galore?
Why, even the janitor’s wife has a perfectly good love life
And here am I facing tomorrow, alone with my sorrow
Down in the depths on the ninetieth floor.

Even without you,
My arms fold about you,
You know darling why,
So in love with you am I.

In love with the night mysterious,
The night when you first were there,
In love with my joy delirious,
When I knew that you could care,

So taunt me, and hurt me,
Deceive me, desert me,
I’m yours, till I die …

So in love … So in love …
So in love with you, my love … am I.

I could have danced all night,
I could have danced all night
And still have begged for more.

I could have spread my wings and done a thousand things
I’ve never done before.

I’ll never know what made it so exciting,
Why all at once my heart took flight.

I only know when he began to dance with me
I could have danced, danced, danced all night!