Femme Noire

"Femme nue, femme noire
Vétue de ta couleur qui est vie, de ta forme qui est beauté
J'ai grandi à ton ombre; la douceur de tes mains bandait mes yeux"

-Leopold Senghor

About 15 years ago, these lines were paraphrased in a Malayalm weekly magazine. Most malayalis who were old enough to read during those years can easily guess that the column was 'Sahithyavaraphalam" by M. Krishnan Nair. I've ben searching for a translation for the entire poem for years and it was 2 days ago that I found it on the internet.

Here is the translation; any commentry is just uncalled-for

Nude woman, black woman,
Clothed in your color which is life, your form which is beauty!
I grew in your shadow, the sweetness of your hands bandaged my eyes
And here in the heart of summer and of noon, I discover you, promised land from the height of a burnt mountain,
And your beauty strikes my heart, like the lightning of an eagle.

Nude woman, dark woman,
Ripe fruit of the dark flesh, somber ecstasies of black wine, mouth that causes my mouth to sing;
Savanna of pure horizons, savanna trembling under the fervent caresses of the East wind,
Carved tom-tom, tense tom-tom, grumbling under the fingers of the conqueror,
Your low contralto voice is the song of the lover.

Nude woman, dark woman,
Oil unwrinkled by winds, oil smooth on athletes' thighs, on the thighs of the princes of Mali,
Delightful play of the spirit, image of red gold on your flaming skin.
In the shadow of your hair, my anguish is relieved by the nearby suns of your eyes.

Nude woman, black woman,
I sing your passing beauty, fixing your form in eternity,
Before a jealous fate turns you to ashes to feed the roots of life.