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Souvent, pour s'amuser, les hommes d'équipage Prennent des albatros, vastes oiseaux des mers, Qui suivent, indolents compagnons de voyage, Le navire glissant sur les gouffres amers. À peine les ont-ils déposés sur les planches, Que ces rois de l'azur, maladroits et honteux, Laissent piteusement leurs grandes ailes blanches Comme des avirons traîner à côté d'eux. Ce voyageur ailé, comme il est gauche et veule ! Lui, naguère si beau, qu'il est comique et laid ! L'un agace son bec avec un brûle-gueule, L'autre mime, en boitant, l'infirme qui volait ! Le Poëte est semblable au prince des nuées Qui hante la tempête et se rit de l'archer ; Exilé sur le sol au milieu des huées, Ses ailes de géant l'empêchent de marcher.
E. Chausson sets stanzas 1-2, 4
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1861, in Spleen et Idéal, pages 11-12.
Note: modern French spelling would change "Poëte" (stanza 4, line 1) to "Poète"
Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "L'albatros", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 2, first published 1859-61 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Bartlett (b. 1949), "L’Albatros", 2001 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Robert Caby (1905 - 1992), "L'Albatros", 1948, published 1948 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855 - 1899), "L'albatros", published 1879, stanzas 1-2,4 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Laurent Coulomb (b. 1977), "L'Albatros", op. 51 (2020), first performed 2020 [ baritone or mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Konstantin Nikolayevich L'dov (1862 - 1935), "Le Prince des Nuées", op. 55, copyright © 1933 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Vincent Minazzoli , "L'albatros", 1989 [ high voice and piano ], from Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nguyen Phuc Buu Phoi (b. 1945), "L'Albatros", 2006?, published 2006 [ soprano and piano ], from Les Fleurs du Mal, six mélodies pour soprano et piano, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cyril Plante (b. 1975), "L'albatros", op. 111 no. 1 [ high voice and piano ], from Cycle Baudelairien, no. 1, Édition du compositeur [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Haasz) , "Albatros"
- ENG English (David K. Smythe) , "The albatross", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , "’Z albatrosz", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Árpád Tóth) , "Az albatrosz", written 1918
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "L'albatro", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Bronisława Ostrowska) , "Albatros", Kraków, first published 1911
- POR Portuguese (Português) (Delfim Guimarães) , "O albatroz"
- ROM Romanian (Română) (Alexandru I. Philippide) , "Albatrosul"
Research team for this page: Ted Perry , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 123
Sovente, per divertimento, i marinai catturano gli albatri, i giganteschi uccelli dei mari, che, indolenti compagni di viaggio, seguono le navi che scivolano sopra gli abissi amari. Non appena li hanno deposti sulla tolda, questi sovrani dell'azzurro, goffi e impacciati, miseramente trascinano la loro ala bianca come un pesante remo cui restano attaccati. Povero viaggiatore alato, come è fiacco e maldestro! Lui, prima così bello, ora è ridicolo e brutto! L'uno si diverte a stuzzicarlo, con la pipa, sul becco, l'altro, zoppicando, allo storpio fa il verso! Simile a lui è il poeta, al signore dei nembi, che vive nelle tempeste e se la ride dell'arco; Mentre a terra è in esilio, in balìa degli scherzi, con le ali giganti che gli sono di impaccio.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2010 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "L'albatros", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 2, first published 1859-61
This text was added to the website: 2010-03-23
Line count: 16
Word count: 125