Alphonse de Lamartine Geoffrey Barto New Poetic Meditations Geoffrey Barto 2002 To be born with the spring, and with the roses die, On the wing of the breeze swim through the sky so pure, Balanced on the breast of flowers barely closed, Drinking in their perfumes, the light and the blue sky, Shaking off, still so young, the dust upon its wings, Flying off like a breath to the eternal vault, This is the butterfly's enchanted destiny! It's like the desire that is never addressed, And left unsatisfied, should it brush against anything, Returns in the end to the sky, seeking its sensual pleasure.