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L'eau — la baigneuse, 1909

The water is composed of its desires :
                                                                 Golden and green,
The outer flourishings of evening light
                    That grace the softening edges of the trees
Fall into it,
                    Fluctuating in the movement of its surface,
Unburdening the water of its colour,
                                                                 Standing in it
As the spirit stands in the body.       Where the treetops
                    Pale into the blue ciel,
Darkening to blue as the sea past its corral,
                    They leave the water to its depth and do not
Furnish it in further colour.
                    The water resonates with cyan and amethyst,
It is its own measure in its substance.

                    At the epicentre of a system of rings,
                    A brilliant white body floats.
                    Black hair that does not meet the water,
                    White breasts that descend into it
                    Rising in networks of delicate light.
                    The river falls from her : she treads it
                    Silently with her outstretched hand.
                    No music but that of breath and motion.

At the far bank, songbirds weave their diverse ways.
                                                                 The air is fresh with
The ghosts of other swimmers, other songs.