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Five Poems of Baudelaire
Song Cycle by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918)
View original-language texts alone: Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire
Mère des souvenirs, maîtresse des maîtresses, — Ô toi, tous mes plaisirs ! ô toi, tous mes devoirs ! — Tu te rappelleras la beauté des caresses, La douceur du foyer et le charme des soirs, Mère des souvenirs, maîtresse des maîtresses ! Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon, Et les soirs au balcon, voilés de [vapeurs roses]1 ; Que ton sein m'était doux ! que ton cœur m'était bon ! Nous avons dit souvent d'impérissables choses Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon. Que les soleils sont beaux par les chaudes soirées ! Que l'espace est profond ! que le cœur est puissant ! En me penchant vers toi, reine des adorées, Je croyais respirer le parfum de ton sang. Que les soleils sont beaux par les chaudes soirées ! La nuit s'épaississait ainsi qu'une cloison, Et mes yeux dans le noir devinaient tes prunelles, Et je buvais ton souffle, ô douceur, ô poison ! Et tes pieds s'endormaient dans mes mains fraternelles ; La nuit s'épaississait ainsi qu'une cloison. Je sais l'art d'évoquer les minutes heureuses, Et revis mon passé blotti dans tes genoux. Car à quoi bon chercher tes beautés langoureuses Ailleurs qu'en ton cher corps et qu'en ton cœur si doux ? Je sais l'art d'évoquer les minutes heureuses ! Ces serments, ces parfums, ces baisers infinis, Renaîtront-ils d'un gouffre interdit à nos sondes, Comme montent au ciel les soleils rajeunis Après s'être lavés au fond des mers profondes ? — Ô serments ! ô parfums ! ô baisers infinis !
Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Le Balcon", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 36, Alençon, Journal d'Alençon, first published 1857
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) [singable] (Núria Colomer) , "El balcó", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Haasz) , "Balkon"
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The balcony", copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Cyril Meir Scott) , "The Balcony", appears in The Flowers of Evil, London, Elkin Mathews, first published 1909
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Árpád Tóth) , "A balkon"
- ROM Romanian (Română) (Alexandru I. Philippide) , "Balconul"
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Victor Torres) , "El balcón", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857, in Spleen et Idéal, pages 81-82. Also confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1861, in Spleen et Idéal, pages 82-83. Also confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Œuvres complètes de Charles Baudelaire, vol. I : Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Michel Lévy frères, 1868, in Spleen et Idéal, page 137-138. Punctuation and formatting follows 1857 edition of Les Fleurs du mal. Note: this was number 34 in the 1857 edition of Les Fleurs du mal but 36 or 37 in subsequent editions.
First published May 17, 1857 in Journal d'Alençon.
1 C. Debussy: "vapeur rose"Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
Mother of memories, mistress of mistresses, you who are all my pleasures and all my duties, you will remember the beauty of our caresses, the sweetness of the hearth, the charm of the evenings, mother of memories, mistress of mistresses. On evenings lit by the glowing coal-fire and evenings on the balcony, veiled with pink mist, how soft your breast was, how kind to me was your heart! Often we said imperishable things on evenings lit by the glowing coal-fire. How beautiful the sun is on warm evenings! How deep is space! How powerful the human heart! As I leant over you, oh queen of all adored ones, I thought I was breathing the fragrance of your blood. How beautiful the sun is on warm evenings! The night would thicken like a wall around us, and in the dark my eyes would make out yours, and I would drink your breath, oh sweetness, oh poison! And your feet would fall asleep in my brotherly hands. The night would thicken like a wall around us. I know how to evoke the moments of happiness, I relive my past, nestling my head on your lap. For why would I seek your languid beauties anywhere except in your dear body and your oh-so-gentle heart? I know how to evoke the moments of happiness! Will those sweet words, those perfumes, those infinite kisses be reborn from a chasm deeper than we may fathom like suns that rise rejuvenated into the sky after cleansing themselves in the oceans' depths? Oh sweet words, oh perfumes, oh infinite kisses!
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2001 by Peter Low, (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 Balcon", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 36, Alençon, Journal d'Alençon, first published 1857
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 30
Word count: 262
Voici venir les temps où vibrant sur sa tige Chaque fleur s'évapore ainsi qu'un encensoir ; Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir, — Valse mélancolique et langoureux vertige ! — Chaque fleur s'évapore ainsi qu'un encensoir ; Le violon frémit comme un cœur qu'on afflige ; — Valse mélancolique et langoureux vertige ! — Le ciel est triste et beau comme un grand reposoir. Le violon frémit comme un cœur qu'on afflige, Un cœur tendre, qui hait le néant vaste et noir ! — Le ciel est triste et beau comme un grand reposoir ; Le soleil s'est noyé dans son sang qui se fige. Un cœur tendre qui hait le néant vaste et noir Du passé lumineux recueille tout vestige ; — Le soleil s'est noyé dans son sang qui se fige ; Ton souvenir en moi luit comme un ostensoir !
Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Harmonie du soir", written 1857, appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 47, Paris, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, first published 1857
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Harmonie večera"
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Evening harmony", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Cyril Meir Scott) , "Evening Harmony", appears in The Flowers of Evil, London, Elkin Mathews, first published 1909
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Árpád Tóth) , "Esti harmónia", written 1920
- POL Polish (Polski) (Bronisława Ostrowska) , "Harmonia wieczoru", Kraków, first published 1911
- ROM Romanian (Română) (Alexandru I. Philippide) , "Armonie în amurg"
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Victor Torres) , "Armonía del atadecer", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857, in Spleen et Idéal, pages 101-102. Note: this was number 43 in the 1857 edition of Les Fleurs du mal but 47 or 48 in subsequent editions.
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
Here come the moments when, quivering on its stem, each flower gives off fragrance like a censer; the sounds and perfumes circle in the evening air, a melancholy waltz, a languid dizziness! Each flower gives off fragrance like a censer; the violin trembles like a heart in distress, a melancholy waltz, a languid dizziness! The sky is sad and beautiful like a vast altar. The violin trembles like a heart in distress, a tender heart, which hates the huge, dark void! The sky is sad and beautiful like a vast altar; the sun has drowned in its own congealing blood. A tender heart, which hates the huge, dark void, gathers up every relic of the harmonious past! The sun has drowned in its own congealing blood, - the memory of you shines in me like a monstrance!
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Peter Low, (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), "Harmonie du soir", written 1857, appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 47, Paris, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, first published 1857
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 137
Tes beaux yeux sont las, pauvre amante ! Reste longtemps, sans les rouvrir, Dans cette pose nonchalante Où t'a surprise le plaisir. Dans la cour le jet d'eau qui jase Et ne se tait ni nuit ni jour, Entretient doucement l'extase Où ce soir m'a plongé l'amour. [ La gerbe épanouie En mille fleurs, Où Phœbé réjouie Met ses couleurs, Tombe comme une pluie De larges pleurs.]1 Ainsi ton âme qu'incendie L'éclair brûlant des voluptés S'élance, rapide et hardie, Vers les vastes cieux enchantés. Puis, elle s'épanche, mourante, En un flot de triste langueur, Qui par une invisible pente Descend jusqu'au fond de mon cœur. [ La gerbe épanouie En mille fleurs, Où Phœbé réjouie Met ses couleurs, Tombe comme une pluie De larges pleurs.]2 Ô toi, que la nuit rend si belle, Qu'il m'est doux, penché vers tes seins, D'écouter la plainte éternelle Qui sanglote dans les bassins ! Lune, eau sonore, nuit bénie, Arbres qui frissonnez autour, Votre pure mélancolie Est le miroir de mon amour. [ La gerbe épanouie En mille fleurs, Où Phœbé réjouie Met ses couleurs, Tombe comme une pluie De larges pleurs.]2
Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), appears in Les Épaves, in 2. Galanteries, no. 8, appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 97, Amsterdam, À l'enseigne du Coq, first published 1866
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Vodotrysk"
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The fountain", copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Juan Henríquez Concepción) , "El chorro de agua", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Épaves, Amsterdam: À l'enseigne du Coq, 1866, in Galanteries, pages 61-64. Also confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Œuvres complètes de Charles Baudelaire, vol. I : Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Michel Lévy frères, 1868, in Spleen et Idéal, pages 231-232.
First published by À l'enseigne du Coq in Les Épaves, 1866; also appears under Spleen et Idéal as number 97 in the 1868 edition of Les Fleurs du mal.
1 Debussy:La gerbe d'eau qui berce Ses mille fleurs, Que la lune traverse De ses pâleurs, Tombe comme une averse De larges pleurs.2 omitted by Debussy.
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
Your pretty eyes are tired, poor darling! Keeping them closed, stay a long time still in that nonchalant pose in which pleasure came upon you. Out in the courtyard the chattering fountain never silent night or day is gently prolonging the ecstasy into which love has plunged me this evening. The water-sheaf which waves to and fro its thousand flowers, and through which the moon shines its pallid rays, falls like a shower of large teardrops. Even so your soul, set ablaze by the burning flash of pleasure, leaps up, rapid and bold, towards the vast enchanted skies. And then it spills, dying, in a wave of sad languor down an invisible slope into the depths of my heart. [... ... ... ... ... ...] Oh beloved, whom night makes so beautiful, as I lean over your breasts, I find it sweet to listen to the eternal lament that sobs in the fountain-basins! Oh moon, sounds of water, blessed night, oh trees trembling all around, your pure melancholy is the mirror of my love. [... ... ... ... ... ...]
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2001 by Peter Low, (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), appears in Les Épaves, in 2. Galanteries, no. 8, appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 97, Amsterdam, À l'enseigne du Coq, first published 1866
Go to the single-text view
Note: this is a translation of Debussy's version.
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 42
Word count: 180
Sois sage, ô ma Douleur, et tiens-toi plus tranquille. Tu réclamais le Soir ; il descend ; le voici : Une atmosphère obscure enveloppe la ville, Aux uns portant la paix, aux autres le souci. [Pendant]1 que des mortels la multitude vile, Sous le fouet du Plaisir, ce bourreau sans merci, Va cueillir des remords dans la fête servile, Ma Douleur, donne-moi la main ; viens par ici, Loin d'eux. Vois se pencher les défuntes Années, Sur les balcons du ciel, en robes surannées ; [Surgir du fond des eaux le Regret souriant]2 ; Le Soleil moribond s'endormir sous une arche, Et, comme un long linceul traînant à l'Orient, Entends, ma chère, entends la douce Nuit qui marche.
Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Recueillement", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 104, Paris(?), Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1866
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Duma"
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Meditative calm", copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Cyril Meir Scott) , "Meditation", appears in The Flowers of Evil, London, Elkin Mathews, first published 1909
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Victor Torres) , "Recogimiento", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with Le Parnasse contemporain : receuil de vers nouveaux, premier receuil, [Paris?]: Alphonse Lemerre, 1866, page 79. Also confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Œuvres complètes de Charles Baudelaire, vol. I : Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Michel Lévy frères, 1868, in Spleen et Idéal, page 237.
First published by Alphonse Lemerre in Le Parnasse contemporain : receuil de vers nouveaux, premier receuil, 1866; also appears under Spleen et Idéal as number 102 in the 1868 edition of Les Fleurs du mal.
1 Vierne: "Tandis"2 Vierne: "Surgir des fonds de l'eau le Regret souriant"
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
Behave yourself, oh my Pain, and be more tranquil. You asked for Evening - it is falling, it is here. An atmosphere of darkness envelops the city bringing peace to some and worry to others. Now while the base multitude of mortals, whipped on by Pleasure, that merciless tormentor, goes off to reap remorse in servile entertainments, give me your hand, my Pain, come this way far from them. Look, the dead Years are leaning at the sky's balconies, in outmoded dresses; from the river's depths Regret is rising with a smile; the moribund Sun is falling asleep under an arch. And like a long shroud trailing in from the East, listen, my dear, listen to the gentle Night approaching.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2001 by Peter Low, (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), "Recueillement", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 104, Paris(?), Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1866
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 121
Nous aurons des lits pleins d'odeurs légères, Des divans profonds comme des tombeaux, Et d'étranges fleurs sur des étagères, Écloses pour nous sous des cieux plus beaux. Usant à l'envi leurs chaleurs dernières, Nos deux cœurs seront deux vastes flambeaux, Qui réfléchiront leurs doubles lumières Dans nos deux esprits, ces miroirs jumeaux. Un soir [plein]1 de rose et de bleu mystique, Nous échangerons un éclair unique, Comme un long sanglot, tout chargé d'adieux ; Et [bientôt]2 un Ange, entr'ouvrant les portes, Viendra ranimer, fidèle et joyeux, Les miroirs ternis et les flammes mortes.
Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "La mort des amants", written 1851, appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 6. La Mort, no. 121, Paris, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, first published 1857
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The death of the lovers", copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Cyril Meir Scott) , "The Death of the Lovers", appears in The Flowers of Evil, London, Elkin Mathews, first published 1909
- GER German (Deutsch) (Stefan George) , "Der Tod der Liebenden", appears in Die Blumen des Bösen, in Der Tod, Berlin: Bondi, first published 1901
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "La morte degli amanti", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Bronisława Ostrowska) , "Śmierć Kochanków", Kraków, first published 1911
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Victor Torres) , "La muerte de los amantes", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857, in La Mort, pages 243-244. Note: this was number 98 in the first edition of Les Fleurs du mal but number 121 or 146 in subsequent editions.
1 1861 and 1868 editions, Bachlund, Charpentier, Debussy, Desbonnet, van Deurzen: "fait"2 1861 and 1868 editions, Bachlund, Charpentier, Debussy, Desbonnet, van Deurzen: "plus tard"
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
We will have beds filled with light perfumes, divans as deep as tombs, and displays of exotic flowers which have bloomed for us under fairer skies. Vying to use up their final heat our hearts will be two huge torches reflecting their double light in the twin mirrors of our two spirits. On an evening that is all mystic blue and pink we will exchange a single lightning-flash like one long sob, laden with farewells; And later, an angel, nudging open the doors, will enter, faithful and joyous, to revive the tarnished mirrors and dead flames.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2001 by Peter Low, (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), "La mort des amants", written 1851, appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 6. La Mort, no. 121, Paris, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, first published 1857
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 96