Two Sonnets
from The Tennis Court Oath (1962)
I. DIDO The body’s products become Fatal to it. Our spit Would kill us, but we Die of our heat. Though I say the things I wish to say They are needless, their own flame conceives it. So I am cheated of perfection. II. THE IDIOT O how this sullen, careless world Ignorant of me is! These rocks, those homes Know not the touch of my flesh, now is there one tree Whose shade has known me for a friend. I’ve wandered the wide world over. No man I’ve known, no friendly beast Has come and put its nose into my hands. No maid has welcomed my face with a kiss. Yet once, as I took passage From Gibraltar to Cape Horn I met some friendly mariners on the boat And as we struggled to keep the ship from sinking The very waves seemed friendly, and the sound The pray made as it hit the front of the boat.
