Max Jacob
Carnival
Every collarette, every fold of the sleeves had been designed by the artist with exquisite style. The Pierrots of this carnival were so many masterpieces. This happened in a town where the Pont-Neuf followed the steps of the Trinity. The artist was there; he himself and his top hat were in the same exquisite style. His skull too. He looked at me with an attention mingled with affection. I was aware of the profound anxieties not expressed in his eyes. The corpse! The corpse of a woman he had managed to preserve in his Montmartre studio. Oh, what a horror and a curse! He has succeeded in giving it some life, but he cannot get rid of the smell, the smell of corpse. How many Pierrots on the steps of the Church of the Trinity, on the Pont-Neuf. The music of the organs reaches to here.
Translated by Michael Bullock
Page(s) 15
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