I long lived under vast porticos
That the sea’s suns tinted with a thousand lights
And that in the evening made their grand pillars,
Upright and majestic, look like basaltic caves

The swells, rolling images of skies,
Mingled in a solemn and mystical way
The all-powerful chords of their rich music
In the sunset’s colors reflected in my eyes.

This is where I lived in quiet pleasure
Amid the blue, the waves, the glories,
And among the naked slaves, all permeated with odors,

Who cooled my forehead with palms
And whose only care was to deepen
The painful secret that made me languish.

Charles Baudelaire