I AM YOU

Florence is wearing a Tony Ward dress

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As a free man, you will always cherish the sea!
The sea is your mirror; you contemplate your soul
In the infinite unfurling of its waves,
And your spirit is no less bitter an abyss.


You delight in plunging into the bosom of your image;
You embrace it with your eyes and arms, and your heart
Is sometimes distracted from its own rumour
At the sound of this wild and untamed complaint.


You are both dark and discreet:
Man, no one has plumbed the depths of your abysses;
O sea, no one knows your intimate riches,
So jealous are you of keeping your secrets!


And yet for countless centuries
That you have fought each other without pity or remorse,
So fond are you of bloodshed and death,
O eternal combatants, O implacable brothers!


Charles Baudelaire