L'invitation au voyage [English translation]

My child, my sister,

dream of the sweetness

of going down there to live together,

to love at leisure, to love and to die

in the land that resembles you!

The damp suns

of those hazy skies

have charms for my spirit

as mysterious

as your treacherous eyes

sparkling through their tears.

There, there is nothing but order and beauty,

luxury, calm, and sensual delight.

See, on the canals

sleep the vessels

which love to wander;

it is to satisfy your least desire

that they come from the ends of the earth.

The setting suns clothe the fields,

the canals, the entire city

in hyacynthe and gold;

the world falls asleep

in a warm light!

There, there is nothing but order and beauty,

luxury, calm, and sensual delight.

• Artist:Charles Baudelaire
• Album:Les fleurs du mal (1861 - 2ème édition) - 053 - Spleen et idéal - LIII