I love you for all the women I never knew

I love you for all the times I haven't lived

For the smell of the open sea and the smell of warm bread

For the snow that melts for the first flowers

For the pure animals that man does not frighten

I love you to love

I love you for all the women I don't love.

Who reflects me but yourself I see so little of myself

Without you I see nothing but a deserted expanse

Between then and now

There were all those deaths I passed on straw

I couldn't break through the wall of my mirror

I had to learn life word by word

As one forgets.

I love you for your wisdom that's not mine

For your health

I love you against all that is illusion

For this immortal heart that I do not hold

You think you are doubt and you are only reason

You're the big sun that goes to my head

When I'm sure of myself.

Paul Eluard