SENGHOR, L. S "FEMME NOIRE" (BLACK WOMAN)
1. Naked woman, black woman
Clothed with your colour which is life
With your form which is beauty
In your shadowI have grown up; the
Gentleness of your hands was laid over my eyes.
And now, high up on the sun-baked
pass, at the heart of summer, at the heart of noon,
I come upon yOu, my promise land,
And your beauty strikes me to hEart
Like the flash of an eagle.
2. Naked women, dark Women
Firm-fleshed ripe fruit, somber rapture
Of black wine, mouth making lyrical my mouth
Savannah stretching to clear horizons,
Savannah shuddering beneath the east winds
Eager caresses.
Carved tom-tom, taut tom-tom, muttering
Under the conqueror's fingers.
Your solemn contralto voice is the
Spiritual song of the beloved
Naked woman, dark woman