Living
A Barque of Gold
Translated by Jethro Bithell (1911) · From Contemporary Belgian Poetry (1911)
In a barque of the Orient
Maidens three are coming back,
Maidens three from the Orient
Are coming in a barque of gold.
One is black,
Her hands the rudder hold,
On her curving lips with their essences of roses
She brings to us strange stories,
In the silence.
One is brown,
She holds the full sail down,
And on her feet are wings,
An angel's mien to us she brings
In her motionless bearing.
But one is fair,
At the prow she is sleeping,
As from the rising sun her hair
The wave is sweeping,
She brings us back in her eyes so bright
All the light.
Cite this poem
MLA
Lerberghe, Charles Van. “A Barque of Gold.” Translated by Jethro Bithell. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/charles-van-lerberghe/7/.
Chicago
Lerberghe, Charles Van. “A Barque of Gold.” Translated by Jethro Bithell. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/charles-van-lerberghe/7/.
Read this poem with the Codex →