Sonnet of the Asshole / Sonnet du Trou du Cul

This is the only poem known to have been jointly composed by Rimbaud and Verlaine. Parnassian poet Albert Mérat had published a book of sonnets called L'Idole, in which each poem extolled a part of the body of his mistress -with one omission, which the two young iconoclasts proceeded to rectify. This sonnet appeared in the "Album Zutique", a book of scabrous parodies by the literary circle who called themselves Les Zutistes.


Sonnet of the Asshole / Sonnet du Trou du Cul

Dark and wrinkled like a violet carnation,It sighs, humbly nestling in the moss still moist from loveThat follows the descent of sweet white cheeksDown to their edge.

Obscur et froncé comme un oeillet violet,Il respire, humblement tapi parmi la mousseHumide encor d'amour qui suit la fuite douceDes Fesses blanches jusqu'au coeur de son ourlet.

Filaments like tears of milkHave wept beneath the cruel south windThat drives them back across the little clots of russet clay,And disappeared there where the slope has called them.

Des filaments pareils à des larmes de laitOnt pleuré, sous l'autan cruel qui les repousseA travers de petits caillots de marne rousse,Pour s'aller perdre où la pente les appelait.

My Dream has often kissed its opening;My Soul, that envies mortal intercourseHas chosen this to be its wild and musky nest of sobs.

Mon Rêve s'aboucha souvent à sa ventouse;Mon âme, du coït matériel jalouse,En fit son larmier fauve et son nid de sanglots.

It is the swooning olive and the sweet cajoling fluteThe tube through which celestial creamy pralines tumble downFemale Promised Land rimmed round with dew!

C'est l'olive pâmée, et la flûte calineC'est le tube où descend la céleste praline:Chanaan féminin dans les moiteurs enclos!


-- Paul Verlaine (quatrains) -- Arthur Rimbaud (tercets)