Chanson d'Automne

Chanson d'automne

Les sanglots longs
Des violons
  De l'automne
Blessent mon coeur
D'une langueur
  Monotone.

Tout suffocant
Et blême, quand
  Sonne l'heure,
Je me souviens
Des jours anciens
  Et je pleure,

Et je m'en vais
Au vent mauvais
  Qui m'emporte
Deçà, delà
Pareil à la
  Feuille morte.

[Paul Verlaine]

The long sobs
of the violins of autumn
wound my heart
with a monotonous languor

Pale and suffocating.
When sounds the hour
I remember old days
and I weep

I depart on a vile wind
which sweeps me away
hither and yon
no more than a dead leaf

Paul Verlaine was bisexual.  His poetry is sublime.  I just wish I had the skill to translate it properly.  

Ah well.  We come into the world alone, and leave alone.  For some, along the way in between these two extremities, there is companionship, even love.  For others, seulement les regrets -- et la solitude.