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by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867)

Le chat
Language: French (Français) 
Viens, mon beau chat, sur mon cœur amoureux ;
	Retiens les griffes de ta patte,
Et laisse-moi plonger dans tes beaux yeux
	Mêlés de métal et d’agate.

Lorsque mes doigts caressent à loisir
	Ta tête et ton dos élastique,
Et que ma main s’enivre du plaisir
	De palper ton corps électrique,

Je vois ma femme en esprit; son regard,
	Comme le tien, aimable bête,
Profond et froid, coupe et fend comme un dard,

	Et, des pieds jusques à la tête,
Un air subtil, un dangereux parfum,
	Nagent autour de son corps brun.

Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857, Spleen et Idéal, pages 79-80. Note: this was number 33 in the 1857 edition of Les Fleurs du mal but 34 or 35 in subsequent editions.


Text Authorship:

  • by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Le chat", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 35, 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 Nicolas Hussein (b. 1987), "Le Chat", op. 2 (4 mélodies pour voix moyenne et piano) no. 3, published 2017, first performed 2015 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. In Nomine [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Guillemette Marrannes (b. 1954), "Le chat", 1998 [ high voice and piano ], from Sept mélodies de mer et d'amour, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Haasz) , "Kočka"


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2017-02-25
Line count: 14
Word count: 91

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