VICTOR SEGALEN

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Victor Segalen partie 1 par endymion-120


Victor Segalen partie 2 par endymion-120


Victor Segalen partie 3 par endymion-120

Hidden Name
BY VICTOR SEGALEN

The true Name is not the one that gilds porticos,
             illustrates acts; nor that the people chew in
             spite;

The true Name is not to be read even in the Pal-
             ace, nor in the gardens, nor in the grottoes,
             but remains hidden by the waters under the
             vault of the aqueduct where I drink deep
             draughts.

Only in a great drought, when winter crackles
             without flowing, when springs, at their
             lowest, shell themselves up with ice,

When emptiness is at the heart of the under-
             ground & in the underground of the
             heart—where even the blood no longer
             flows—under the vault then accessible, is it
             possible to gather up the Name.

But may the hard waters melt, may life overflow
             its banks, may the devastating torrent come
             rather than Knowledge !

Un tigre photographié par Victor Segalen
 le Tigre de la Sépulture de Gao Li (Paris, Musée Guimet)

George-Daniel de Monfreid - Portrait de Victor Segalen, 1909.