Beside A Monstrous Jewish Whore I Lay

A poem by Charles Baudelaire

Beside a monstrous Jewish whore I lay
One night, we were two corpses side by side,
And came to dream beside this hired bride
Of beauty my desire had turned away.

I saw again her native majesty,
Her gaze empowered with a strength and grace,
Her hair a perfumed casque around her face,
An image that revived the love in me.

For I would fervently have kissed your flesh,
From your sweet feet up to your sable hair
Unrolled the treasure of a deep caress,

If on some evening, with a simple tear,
o queen of cruelty! you had devised
To dim the brilliance of those soulless eyes.