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by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867)

Le Vampire
Language: French (Français) 
Toi qui, comme un coup de couteau,
Dans mon cœur plaintif es entrée ;
Toi qui, forte comme un troupeau
De démons, vins, folle et parée,

De mon esprit humilié
Faire ton lit et ton domaine ;
— Infâme à qui je suis lié
Comme le forçat à la chaîne,

Comme au jeu le joueur têtu,
Comme à la bouteille l’ivrogne,
Comme aux vermines la charogne,
— Maudite, maudite sois-tu !

J’ai prié le glaive rapide
De conquérir ma liberté,
Et j’ai dit au poison perfide
De secourir ma lâcheté.

Hélas ! le poison et le glaive
M’ont pris en dédain et m’ont dit :
« Tu n’es pas digne qu’on t’enlève
À ton esclavage maudit,

Imbécile ! — de son empire
Si nos efforts te délivraient,
Tes baisers ressusciteraient
Le cadavre de ton vampire ! »

Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1861, pages 72-73. First appeared in La Revue des Deux Mondes, June 1, 1855, then in Les Fleurs du mal (1857) as number 29 of Spleen et Idéal; as number 31 in the 1861 edition, and as number 32 in the 1868 edition.


Text Authorship:

  • by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Le Vampire", written 1855?, appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 31, first published 1855 [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 Johan Hora-Adema (1865 - 1947), "Le Vampire", 1920?, published 1921 [ high voice and piano ], La Haye (Pays-Bas), Éd. G.H. Van Eck & Zn. [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2025-08-16
Line count: 24
Word count: 130

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