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Ils marchent devant moi, ces yeux pleins de lumières, Qu'un Ange très-savant a sans doute aimantés ; Ils marchent, ces divins frères qui sont mes frères, [Suspendant mon regard à]1 leurs feux diamantés. Me sauvant de tout piège et de tout péché grave, Ils conduisent mes pas dans la route du Beau ; Ils sont mes serviteurs et je suis leur esclave ; Tout mon être obéit à ce vivant flambeau. Charmants Yeux, vous brillez de la clarté mystique Qu'ont les cierges brûlant en plein jour ; le soleil Rougit, mais n'éteint pas leur flamme fantastique ; Ils célèbrent la Mort, vous chantez le Réveil ; Vous marchez en chantant le réveil de mon âme, Astres dont le soleil ne peut flétrir la flamme !
Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857, in Spleen et Idéal, pages 89-90. Note: this was number 38 in the 1857 edition of Les Fleurs du mal but number 43 or 44 in subsequent editions.
1 L. Vierne: "Secouant dans mes yeux"Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Le flambeau vivant", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 43, Paris, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, first published 1857 [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 Benjamin C. S. Boyle , "Le flambeau vivant", op. 11 no. 1, published 2001, first performed 2001 [ soprano and piano ], from Trois chansons de Charles Baudelaire, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by A. Delacroix , "Le Flambeau vivant", published [1919] [ high voice and piano ], from Mélodies, no. 6, Paris, Éd. Durdilly, Ch. Hayet, successeur [sung text not yet checked]
- by Xavier Henri Napoleon Leroux (1863 - 1919), "Le flambeau vivant", published 1898 [ high voice and piano ], from Dix Mélodies, 2ème recueil, no. 8, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maurice Rollinat (1846 - 1903), "Le flambeau vivant" [ low voice and piano ], from Six poésies de Ch. Baudelaire, no. 5, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Vierne (1870 - 1937), "Le flambeau vivant", op. 45 no. 3 (1921), published 1924 [ voice and piano ], from Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire, no. 3, Éd. Salabert (Maurice Sénart) [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Corinne Orde) , "The living torch", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Cyril Meir Scott) , "The Living Torch", appears in The Flowers of Evil, London, Elkin Mathews, first published 1909
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Geoffrey Wieting , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 125
They walk before me, those Eyes full of light, That a very wise Angel has no doubt magnetised; They walk, those divine brothers who are my brothers, Shaking their diamond-like sparks in my eyes. Saving me from any snare or grave sin, They guide my footsteps along the path of Beauty; They are my servants and I am their slave; My whole being obeys this living torch! Charming Eyes, you shine with that mystical light Of candles burning in full daylight; the sun Reddens but does not extinguish their fantastical flame. They celebrate Death, you sing the Reveille, You walk on while chanting the awakening of my soul, Star whose flame no sun can suppress.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2007 by Corinne Orde, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Le flambeau vivant", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 43, Paris, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, first published 1857
This text was added to the website: 2007-11-20
Line count: 14
Word count: 115