A la Gloire des Cieux (To the Glory of the Heavens)
For the benefit of our friends who are able to read French, we are posting this superb astropoem by the Belgian poet Emile Verhaeren (1855-1916). Born in a Flemish, but French-speaking Belgian family, Verhaeren wrote in French and became known as one of the chief founders of the French Symbolist movement. By the turn of the century he was world-famous and his works were translated into more than 20 languages. Verhaeren's deep love for the starry sky imparts a luminous and vibrant richness to this poem, "To the Glory of the Heavens." The third and fourth lines, for example (repeated...
