She attends the school of the Sacred Heart?
that beautiful girl so white.
She comes in a small carriage under the branches,
during vacation when the flowers bloom.
She descends the hill gently. The carriage
is old and small. She is not very rich
and reminds me of the old families
sixty years ago, cheerful, good and honest.
She reminds me of the schoolgirls then,
with their rococo names, names of books
given as prizes?green, red, olive,
with an oval ornament and a title in gold:
Clara d'Ellebeuse, Eleonore Derval,
Victoire d'Etremont, Laure de la Vallee,
Lia Fauchereuse, Blanche de Percival,
Rose de Limereuil and Sylvie Laboulaye.
I think of those schoolgirls on vacation,
on farms still productive, eating green apples
and rancid hazelnuts in front of a peacock
in the cool shady park with gilded iron gates.
It was one of those houses with an open table.
Many dishes were served and everyone laughed.
The green lawn was seen through the window
and the glass sparkled when the sun went down.
Then a handsome young man married the schoolgirl?
an utterly beautiful girl, pink and white?
who laughed when he kissed her hip in the bed.
And, knowing how to make them, they had many children.