Les Roses de Saadi is one of the most known works of Marceline Desbordes-Valmore and was published posthumously in 1860. Short, sweet, and somewhat nostalgic, it is up to the reader to decide if it is a love poem or not, or if should be taken for its obvious interpretation or to look for hidden meanings.
Desbordes-Valmore, however, is known for her straightforward poems laced with melancholy and sorrowful mourning.
Les Roses de Saadi
J’ai voulu ce matin te rapporter des roses;Mais j’en avais tant pris dans mes ceintures closesQue les noeuds trop serrés n’ont pu les contenir.
Les noeuds ont éclaté. Les roses envoléesDans le vent, à la mer s’en sont toutes allées.Elles ont suivi l’eau pour ne plus revenir.
La vague en a paru rouge et comme enflammée.Ce soir, ma robe encore en est toute embaumée . . .
Respires-en sur moi l’odorant souvenir.
The Roses of Saadi
I wanted to bring you roses this morning;But I had closed so many in my sashThat the knots were too tight to contain them.
The knots split. The roses blew away.All blew off to the sea, borne by the wind,Carried to the water, never to return.
The waves looked red as if inflamed.Tonight, my dress is still perfumed.
Breathe in the fragrant memory.