Photographs of Berenice

Before Titus departed, Berenice shot his photograph. Her own dwarfish shadow followed him everywhere like his shadow. But he, in Cæsarea, what would he do without wings? Behold the cruel proofs that love demands of princes.

Berenice, by a small red lamp, turn, turn again in the night that cruel proof.

Proof: A negro appeared on a white horse. Berenice didn’t even hesitate. It’s you, dear Lord, she cried. Yes, on a black horse, King Titus in tears.

Jean Cocteau