"from the zenith piercing the azure"

The Sea
Paul Valéry

From the zenith piercing the azure the sun glitters
In the sea's orbicular and blue mirror,
The golden arrows hurling from the fiery sky's height
Are heavily engulfed in the calm flat main.

And the odorous swell of the open sea dilates
Sinuously lengthens and then rises slightly
Like a sacred serpent under the fixed gaze of a God.
Day sinks. The surge is steeped in scarlet.

Sunk in the ocean of transclucent blazonries
The sun, as a dying bird plunges, has set,
And evening's gold is lost in the Eternal tomb.

A wave scarcely rises and then falls
Whilst the beauty in the gloomy crepe spreads--
Night the mysterious with her numberless eyes.