[LE ROI S'AMUSE, Act II] <br /> <br /> <br />My child! oh, only blessing Heaven allows me! <br />Others have parents, brothers, kinsmen, friends, <br />A wife, a husband, vassals, followers, <br />Ancestors, and allies, or many children. <br />I have but thee, thee only. Some are rich; <br />Thou art my treasure, thou art all my riches. <br />And some believe in angels; I believe <br />In nothing but thy soul. Others have youth, <br />And woman's love, and pride, and grace, and health; <br />Others are beautiful; thou art my beauty, <br />Thou art my home, my country and my kin, <br />My wife, my mother, sister, friend--my child! <br />My bliss, my wealth, my worship, and my law, <br />My Universe! Oh, by all other things <br />My soul is tortured. If I should ever lose thee-- <br />Horrible thought! I cannot utter it. <br />Smile, for thy smile is like thy mother's smiling. <br />She, too, was fair; you have a trick like her, <br />Of passing oft your hand athwart your brow <br />As though to clear it. Innocence still loves <br />A brow unclouded and an azure eye. <br />To me thou seem'st clothed in a holy halo, <br />My soul beholds thy soul through thy fair body; <br />E'en when my eyes are shut, I see thee still; <br />Thou art my daylight, and sometimes I wish <br />That Heaven had made me blind that thou might'st be <br />The sun that lighted up the world for me.<br /><br />Victor Marie Hugo<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/paternal-love/
