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April 4, 2008

i saw tehura for the last time

As I left the quay, at the moment of going on board, I saw Tehura for the last time.
She had wept through many nights. Now she sat worn-out and sad, but calm, on a stone with her legs hanging down and her strong, lithe feet touching the soiled water.
The flower which she had put behind her ear in the morning had fallen wilted upon her knee.
Here and there were others like her, tired, silent, gloomy, watching without a thought the thick smoke of the ship which was bearing all of us-lovers of a day-far away, forever.
From the bridge of the ship as we were moving farther and farther away, it seemed to us that with the telescope we could still read on their lips these ancient Maori verses,

Ye gentle breezes of the south and east
That join in tender play above my head.
Hasten to the neighboring isle.
There you will find in the shadows of his favorite tree,
Him who has abandoned me.
Tell him that you have seen me weep.


Paul Gauguin - Noa Noa

Posted by amin at April 4, 2008 1:42 AM