"THE WINE OF THE ASSASSIN My wife is dead, and I am free!/ I can finally drink to my heart's content./ When I came home penniless/ Her screams tore at my soul./ Now I feel happy as a king:/ The air is pure and the sky splendid.../ It was just such a summer/ When I fell in love with her./ To quench this thirst that torments me/ It would take as much wine as/ Her tomb can hold;/ And that's saying something./ Because I threw her to the bottom of a well,/ And on top of that I threw/ All the stones from the parapet./ Will I be able to forget her?/ In the name of the profound oaths/ From which nothing can ever untie us,/ To return to loving each other/ As in the time of our drunkenness,/ I begged her to meet us again,/ At night, on a lonely road./ She came, crazy creature!/ We are all a little crazy in this world!/ She was still pretty,/ Although a little faded,/ And I loved her too much, and then I told her:/ Get out of this life!/ No one can understand me: perhaps/ One of those many stupid drunkards/ Has ever thought in some nightmarish night/ Of turning wine into a shroud?/ All these invulnerable scoundrels,/ Iron puppets/ Never ever, neither in summer nor in winter,/ Have known true love,/ With its black spells,/ Its infernal train of alarms/ The vials of poison, its tears,/ The creaking of chains and bones!/ -Here I am free and alone!/ Tonight I will be dead drunk;/ And then, without fear or remorse,/ I will lie down on the ground,/ And I will sleep like a dog! A cart with its heavy wheels,/ Loaded with stones and mud,/ Or a furious train, if it wants/ Can crush my guilty head/ Or even cut me in half:/ I don't give a damn about the Lord,/ The Devil, and all the Sacraments! (from The Flowers of Evil)"
Created by d'Araprì