V. Nezval, A Book of Czech Verse — opening stanzas of "The unknown girl taken from the Seine" and the poem "A Farewell… (1958)
“ The kiss, the handkerchief, the siren and the bell, A smile or two, and then the loneliness. Farewell. And if we never speak again, Let there remain a little souvenir, Airy as a handkerchief, simpler than a card, Deceptive, like the scent of gilt veneer. And if I saw what others have not seen, So much the better, swallow, homeward on the wing: You showed me South, where hidden lies your nest; Your fate it is to fly, my fate to sing. Farewell. And if this was indeed the end, So much the worse for hope whose life is gone; For if we wish to meet, then never part. ”
