On the 31st day of August in the year 1914
I left Deauville shortly before midnight
In Rouveyre’s little car
Including his chauffeur there were three of us
We said goodbye to a whole epoch
Furious giants were looming over Europe
The eagles were leaving their eyries expecting the sun
Voracious fishes were swimming up from the abysses
Nations were rushing together to know each other through and through
The dead were trembling with fear in their dark dwellings
You can read the rest of the poem here http://www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/apollinaire/LittleCar.html
Listen to Michael Wood reading the whole poem here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LklergDnksk
Follow this link to see photographs from a brief movie film made in a coin-operated street booth on the day that Apollinaire (wearing the hat) and his friend Andre Rouveyre returned to Paris from Deauville in August 1914, following the announcement of the general mobilization. http://www.cbeditions.com/apollinaire.html