The Drowned One (La Noyée)

As you drift off in the current
On the river of memory
Running along the embankment     
I cry to you come back to me
But slowly I move away
As you run your reckless course
Piece by piece you can reclaim
A little of the ground you’ve lost

Now and then you sink right in
The moving liquid floating free
Brushing against brambles then
You hesitate and wait for me
Hiding both my face and figure
Dress pulled up over my head,   
From the fear I’ll be disfigured
By the shame and the regret.

You’re a wreck, there’s nought to save
A carcass in the flowing stream
But I remain your willing slave
And dive in head first after thee
As memory ends and the ocean
Of insensibility
Breaks our hearts and our emotions
Binds us in eternity