'C'est une âme charmante.'
— Diderot

Enfant, si j'étais roi, je donnerais l'empire,
Et mon char, et mon sceptre, et mon peuple à genoux,
Et ma couronne d'or, et mes bains de porphyre,
Et mes flottes, à qui la mer ne peut suffire,
Pour un regard de vous!

Si j'étais Dieu, la terre et l'air avec les ondes,
Les anges, les démons courbés devant ma loi,
Et le profond chaos aux entrailles fécondes,
L'éternité, l'espace et les cieux et les mondes,
Pour un baiser de toi!

Were I a King, Child, My Empire I Would Give Thee

Were I a crowned monarch,
I would give my diadem—
My regal throne and sceptre,
Enriched with many a gem—
I would give my baths of porphyry,
My ships that fill the sea;
My empire, people, all, beloved!
For one sweet smile from thee!

Were I enthroned in heaven,
I would give all earth, and air,
And the angels, and the demons,
That bowed before me there—
I would give yon skies with all their worlds,
Time, space, eternity,
And the teeming depths of chaos,
For one sweet kiss from thee!

Victor Marie Hugo

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/enfant-si-j-tais-roi-je-donnerais-l-empire-were-i-a-king-child-my-empire-i-would-give-thee/