Les amoureux fervents et les savants austères Aiment également dans leur mûre saison Les chats puissants et doux, orgueil de la maison, Qui comme eux sont frileux et comme eux sédentaires. Amis de la science et de la volupté, Ils cherchent le silence et l'horreur des ténèbres ; L'Érèbe les eût pris pour ses coursiers funèbres, S'ils pouvaient au servage incliner leur fierté. Ils prennent en songeant les nobles attitudes Des grands sphinx allongés au fond des solitudes, Qui semblent s'endormir dans un rêve sans fin ; Leurs reins féconds sont pleins d'étincelles magiques, Et des parcelles d'or, ainsi qu'un sable fin, Étoilent vaguement leurs prunelles mystiques.
Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857, in Spleen et Idéal, pages 132-133. Note: this was number 56 in the 1857 edition of Les Fleurs du mal but number 66 or 68 in subsequent editions.
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Les Chats", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 66, Paris, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, first published 1857 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Alphons Diepenbrock (1862 - 1921), "Les chats", 1906, published 1919, orchestrated 1907 [ voice and piano ], Amsterdam, Alsbach & Co [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Irène Fuerison (1875 - 1931), "Les chats", op. 76 (1921-1923) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892 - 1988), "Les chats", KSS 65 no. 2 (1941), published 1988, first performed 2001 [ high voice and piano ], from Trois poèmes, no. 2, Bath, The Sorabji Archive; first edition [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Rudi Spring (b. 1962), "Les Chats", op. 96 no. 16 (2018) [ soprano and piano ], from Livre de Mélodies Françaises, no. 16 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , "Cats", written 2002, first published 2002, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , "Cats", written c2005, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Cyril Meir Scott) , "Cats", appears in The Flowers of Evil, London, Elkin Mathews, first published 1909
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 105
All ardent lovers and all sages prize, — As ripening years incline upon their brows — The mild and mighty cats — pride of the house — That like unto them are indolent, stern and wise. The friends of Learning and of Ecstasy, They search for silence and the horrors of gloom; The devil had used them for his steeds of Doom, Could he alone have bent their pride to slavery. When musing, they display those outlines chaste, Of the great sphinxes — stretched o'er the sandy waste, That seem to slumber deep in a dream without end: From out their loins a fountainous furnace flies, And grains of sparkling gold, as fine as sand, Bestar the mystic pupils of their eyes.
Confirmed with Cyril Scott, The Flowers of Evil [by Charles Baudelaire; translated into English verse by Cyril Scott], London: Elkin Mathews, 1909, page 46.
Text Authorship:
- by Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "Cats", appears in The Flowers of Evil, London, Elkin Mathews, first published 1909 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Les Chats", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 66, Paris, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, first published 1857
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-08-05
Line count: 14
Word count: 122