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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.
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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