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Youth

Henri Thomas

On the boulevards of the Opéra
where the girls pace up and down
turning this way, and turning that
their svelte and lovely necks

the young man up from the fields
wanders along and on and on
mind astray, heart like a drum,
he’s stymied by his awkwardness.

Back he goes to his solitude
to the humble exile of study,
to the small hotel room, worry,
and this poem eluding you

O vile Opéra boulevards
where the girls went pacing up and down
turning this way, and turning that
their svelte and lovely necks.


Henri Thomas

from Into the Deep Street: Seven Modern French Poets 1938-2008 (London: Anvil, 2009)

translated by Jennie Feldman and Stephen Romer

Reproduced by kind permission of the translators.

Tags:

desire French loneliness longing writing poetry youth

About this poem

This poem, representing France, is part of The Written World – our collaboration with BBC radio to broadcast a poem from every single nation competing in London 2012.

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Henri Thomas

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