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Cats
Les amoureux fervents et les savants austères
Aiment également, dans leur mûre saison,
Les chats puissants et doux, orgueil de la maison,
Qui comme eux sont frileux et comme eux sédentaires.
All ardent lovers and all sages prize,
--As ripening years incline upon their brows--
The mild and mighty cats--pride of the house--
That like unto them are indolent, stern and wise.
--As ripening years incline upon their brows--
The mild and mighty cats--pride of the house--
That like unto them are indolent, stern and wise.
Amis de la science et de la volupté,
Ils cherchent le silence et l’horreur des ténèbres ;
L’Érèbe les eût pris pour ses coursiers funèbres,
S’ils pouvaient au servage incliner leur fierté.
The friends of Learning and of Ecstasy,
They search for silence and the horrors of gloom;
The devil had used them for his steeds of Doom,
Could he alone have bent their pride to slavery.
They search for silence and the horrors of gloom;
The devil had used them for his steeds of Doom,
Could he alone have bent their pride to slavery.
Ils prennent en songeant les nobles attitudes
Des grands sphinx allongés au fond des solitudes,
Qui semblent s’endormir dans un rêve sans fin ;
When musing, they display those outlines chaste,
Of the great sphinxes--stretched o'er the sandy waste,
That seem to slumber deep in a dream without end:
Of the great sphinxes--stretched o'er the sandy waste,
That seem to slumber deep in a dream without end:
Leurs reins féconds sont pleins d’étincelles magiques,
Et des parcelles d’or, ainsi qu’un sable fin,
Étoilent vaguement leurs prunelles mystiques.
From out their loins a fountainous furnace flies,
And grains of sparkling gold, as fine as sand,
Bestar the mystic pupils of their eyes.
And grains of sparkling gold, as fine as sand,
Bestar the mystic pupils of their eyes.