Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
Qui aimes-tu le mieux, homme énigmatique, [dis]1 ? Ton père, ta mère, ta sœur [ou]1 ton frère ? - Je n'ai ni père, ni mère, ni sœur, ni frère. - Tes amis ? - Vous vous servez là d'une parole dont le sens m'est restée jusqu'à ce jour inconnu. - Ta patrie ? - J'ignore sous quelle latitude elle est située. - La beauté ? - Je l'aimerais volontiers, déesse et immortelle. - L'or ? - Je le hais comme vous haïssez Dieu. - Eh ! qu'aimes-tu donc, extraordinaire étranger ? - J'aime les nuages. Les nuages qui passent... là-bas...là-bas les merveilleux nuages !
1 omitted by Barraqué.
Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "L'étranger", appears in Le Spleen de Paris -- ou Petits poèmes en prose, no. 1, first published 1869 [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 Jean Barraqué (1928 - 1973), "L'étranger" [ voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Arthur Farwell.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Erich Zeisl.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "The stranger", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-04-03
Line count: 15
Word count: 104
Who do you love most, enigmatic man – say it - your father, your mother, your sister or your brother? - I have no father, no mother, no sister, no brother. - Your friends? - The meaning of that word has always been unknown to me. - Your homeland? - I don't know what latitude it lies in. - Beauty? - That I would gladly love, as a goddess or immortal woman. - Gold? - I hate it as you hate God. - Eh! What do you love then, extraordinary stranger? - I love the clouds… the clouds that pass… there… up there… the marvellous clouds!
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2017 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:
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "L'étranger", appears in Le Spleen de Paris -- ou Petits poèmes en prose, no. 1, first published 1869
This text was added to the website: 2017-09-12
Line count: 15
Word count: 106