The Owls - Charles Baudelaire

Under the overhanging yews,
The dark owls sit in solemn state,
Like stranger gods; by twos and twos
Their red eyes gleam. They meditate.

Motionless thus they sit and dream
Until that melancholy hour
When, with the sun's last fading gleam,
The nightly shades assume their power.

From their still attitude the wise
Will learn with terror to despise
All tumult, movement, and unrest;

For he who follows every shade,
Carries the memory in his breast,
Of each unhappy journey made.

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Sob os feixos onde habitam,
Os mochos formam em filas;
Fugindo as rubras pupilas,
Mudos e quietos, meditam.

E assim permanecerão
Até o Sol se ir deitar
No leito enorme do mar,
Sob um sombrio edredão.

Do seu exemplo, tirai
Proveitoso ensinamento:
— Fugí do mundo, evitai

O bulício e o movimento...
Quem atrás de sombras vai,
Só logra arrependimento!

Charles Baudelaire, in "As Flores do Mal"