_We_--we abide! But the boat grounds among tall reeds.
Marie is half reclining and does not speak.

I draw myself towards her on my knees, and the boat quivers as I do.

Her face in silence calls me; she calls me wholly.

With her prostrate body, surrendered and disordered, she calls me.
I possess her--she is mine! In sublime docility she yields to my violent caress.

Now she is mine--mine forever! Henceforth let what may befall; let the years go by and the winters follow the summers, she is mine, and my life is granted me! Proudly I think of the great and famous lovers whom we resemble.