Le regard singulier d'une femme galante Qui se glisse vers nous comme le rayon blanc Que la lune onduleuse envoie au lac tremblant, Quand elle y veut baigner sa beauté nonchalante, Le dernier sac d'écus dans les doigts d'un joueur, Un baiser libertin de la maigre Adeline, Les sons d'une musique énervante et câline, Semblable au cri lointain de l'humaine douleur, Tout cela ne vaut pas, ô bouteille profonde, Les baumes pénétrants que ta panse féconde Garde au cœur altéré du poète pieux ; Tu lui verses l'espoir, la jeunesse et la vie, — Et l'orgueil, ce trésor de toute gueuserie, Qui nous rend triomphants et semblables aux Dieux !
Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857, in Le vin, pages 236-237. Also confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1861, in Le vin, pages 252-253. Also confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Œuvres complètes de Charles Baudelaire, vol. I : Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Michel Lévy frères, 1868, in Le vin, page 302. Punctuation and formatting follows 1857 edition. Note: this was number 96 in the 1857 edition of Les Fleurs du mal but number 107 or 131 in subsequent editions.
Note: 1861 and 1868 editions use alternate spelling "poëte" in the preantepenultimate line.Text Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Le vin du solitaire", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 3. Le vin, no. 107, Paris, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, first published 1857 [author's text checked 3 times 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):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Stefan George (1868 - 1933) ; composed by Alban Maria Johannes Berg.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Haasz) , "Víno samotářovo"
- ENG English (Iain Sneddon) , "Wine for the lonely", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2004-01-21
Line count: 14
Word count: 108
Der sonderbare blick der leichten frauen Der auf uns gleitet wie das weisse licht Des mondes auf bewegter wasserschicht Will er im bade seine schönheit schauen Der letzte thaler auf dem spielertisch Ein frecher kuss der hagern Adeline Erschlaffenden gesang der violine Der wie der menschheit fernes qualgezisch -- Mehr als dies alles schätz ich - tiefe flasche - Den starken balsam den ich aus dir nasche Und der des frommen dichters müdheit bannt. Du gibst ihm hoffnung liebe jugendkraft Und stolz - dies erbteil aller bettlerschaft Der uns zu helden macht und gottverwandt.
Text Authorship:
- by Stefan George (1868 - 1933) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Le vin du solitaire", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 3. Le vin, no. 107, Paris, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, first published 1857
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Alban Maria Johannes Berg (1885 - 1935), "Der Wein des Einsamen", 1929 [ voice and piano ], from Der Wein, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Manuel Capdevila i Font) , "El vi dels solitaris", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , "The strange expression of the slight women", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Il vino del solitario", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Virginia Knight
This text was added to the website: 2004-01-21
Line count: 14
Word count: 90