I Adore You as Much as the Nocturnal Vault

Charles Baudelaire - French Poet

I Adore You as Much as the Nocturnal Vault (Flowers of Evil)
Je t'adore à l'égal de la voûte nocturne (Les Fleurs du Mal)

I adore you as much as the nocturnal vault,
O vase of sadness, most taciturn one,
I love you all the more because you flee from me,
And because you appear, ornament of my nights,
More ironically to multiply the leagues
That separate my arms from the blue infinite.

I advance to attack, and I climb to assault,
Like a swarm of maggots after a cadaver,
And I cherish, implacable and cruel beast,
Even that coldness which makes you more beautiful.

Charles Baudelaire