Tell me what's happening to me? 
Why is my heart beating so fervently? 
why has this madness, like a wave, 
Broken through the rock of habit? 

Is it my strength or just my torment 
I'm too disturbed to tell: 
From the shimmering lines of life 
I extract a forgotten phrase... 

Is it a thief who turns his lantern 
Upon the crowd of dreary letters? 
I can't help reading the phrase, 
But haven't the strength to go back... 

It really had to flare up, 
But it only harries the darkness; 
All night, like a gas-flame butterfly 
It trembles, but cannot escape...