On a Cradle (1)
To my very young friend Jean Thierry.

Dear little Jean (wrapped in your swaddling clothes)
In your cradle - soft as a bird's nest -
Do you dream of a land where angels
Live in peace, in a very beautiful setting?
Your little fists, in a comic gesture,
Strike here, ... there, ... in your sleep
And the sun, with its fairy curtain,
Waits for your awakening to depart?
Sleep!... little boy, ignorant of lies
(Why must one grow old to be impure?)
I make a wish to embellish your dream:
"May health make your path safe!"

Gaston-Maxime GOUTÉ.

(1) Unpublished.