by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867)
La cloche fêlée
Language: French (Français)
Our translations: ENG
Il est amer et doux, pendant les nuits d'hiver, D'écouter près du feu qui palpite et qui fume Les souvenirs lointains lentement s'élever Au bruit des carillons qui chantent dans la brume. Bienheureuse la cloche au gosier vigoureux Qui, malgré sa vieillesse, alerte et bien portante, Jette fidèlement son cri religieux, Ainsi qu'un vieux soldat qui veille sous la tente ! Moi, mon âme est fêlée, et lorsqu'en ses ennuis Elle veut de ses chants peupler l'air froid des nuits, Il arrive souvent que sa voix affaiblie Semble le râle épais d'un blessé qu'on oublie Au bord d'un lac de sang, sous un grand tas de morts, Et qui meurt, sans bouger, dans d'immenses efforts.
Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857, in Spleen et Idéal, pages 136-137.
First published 1851-04-09 in Le Messager de l'Assemblée under the title "Le Spleen"; also appears published June 1855 in Revue des Deux Mondes under the title "La Cloche". The title "La Cloche fêlée" is used in all editions of Les Fleurs du mal. This was number 58 in the 1857 edition of Les Fleurs du mal but 74 or 76 in subsequent editions.
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 74, first published 1851 [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 Raoul Bardac (1881 - 1950), "La cloche fêlée", 1905, published 1905 [ medium voice and piano ], from Cinq Mélodies, no. 5, Éd. E. Demets [sung text not yet checked]
- by Emmanuel Bondeville (1898 - 1987), "La cloche fêlée", published 1927 [ high voice and piano ], from Deux Mélodies, no. 2, Ed. Max Eschig [sung text not yet checked]
- by Armand Bournonville (d. 1957), "La cloche fêlée", published 1924 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. Maurice Senart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hernani da Costa Braga (1888 - 1948), "La cloche fêlée" [ voice and piano ], Rio de Janeiro: Casa Arthur Napoleão [sung text not yet checked]
- by Pierre (Onfroy) de Bréville (1861 - 1949), "La cloche fêlée", 1924, published 1926 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Rouart, Lerolle & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Caby (1905 - 1992), "La Cloche fêlée", 1948, published 1948 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marguerite Canal (1890 - 1978), "La cloche fêlée" [ voice and piano ], from Sept Poèmes de Charles Baudelaire, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by André Caplet (1879 - 1925), "La cloche fêlée", 1922, published 1924 [ medium voice and piano ], from Deux Poèmes de Charles Baudelaire, no. 1, Éd. Durand [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Alfredo Casella (1883 - 1947), "La Cloche fêlée", op. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gustave Charpentier (1860 - 1956), "La cloche fêlée", 1890, published 1894 [ high voice and piano ], from Poèmes chantés, no. 2, Éd. H. Tellier [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jorge Delorenzi (b. 1945), "La Cloche fêlée", published 1988 [ medium voice and piano ], from Homenaje a Poetas Franceses = Hommage aux Poètes Français, no. 5, Buenos Aires, Édition du compositeur [sung text not yet checked]
- by Claude Duboscq (1897 - 1938), "La cloche fêlée", 1918, published 1918 [ high voice and piano ], from Trois poèmes de C. Baudelaire, no. 3, Éd. E. Demets [sung text not yet checked]
- by René Garriguenc (1908 - 1998), "La cloche fêlée", op. 11 no. 1 (1939) [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Philippe Gaubert (1879 - 1941), "La cloche fêlée", 1933, published 1934 [ medium voice and piano ], from Dix poèmes pour chant et piano, no. 1, Éd. Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Gautier , "La Cloche fêlée", published 1921 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Durdilly, Ch. Hayet [sung text not yet checked]
- by Lucien Hillemacher (1860 - 1909) and by Paul Hillemacher (1852 - 1933), "La Cloche fêlée", published 1904 [ voice and piano ], from 10 Mélodies pour piano et chant, no. 4, Paris, Éd. A. Joanin & Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gaston Knosp (1874 - 1942), "La Cloche fêlée", published 1911 [ high voice and piano ], from Six Mélodies, no. 6, Bruxelles, Éd. Schott Frères [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Martin Tornov Loeffler (1861 - 1935), "La cloche fêlée", op. 5 (Quatre poèmes pour voix, alto et piano) no. 1 (1893), published 1904 [ voice, viola, and piano ], New York, Schirmer [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ladislas Rohozinski (1886 - 1938), "La cloche fêlée", published 1921 [ medium voice and piano ], from Quatre mélodies, no. 2, Paris, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maurice Rollinat (1846 - 1903), "La Cloche fêlée" [ voice and piano ], from Six Mélodies sur des poésies de Baudelaire, no. 3, Paris, Éd. Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Aimée Strohl (1865 - 1941), "La cloche fêlée", published 1901 [ voice and piano ], from Dix poésies mises en musique, no. 2, Paris: F. Toledo & Cie. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Vierne (1870 - 1937), "La cloche fêlée", op. 45 no. 4 (1921), published 1924 [ voice and piano ], from Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire, no. 4, Éd. Salabert (Maurice Sénart) [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Corinne Orde) , "The cracked bell", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Cyril Meir Scott) , "The Broken Bell", appears in The Flowers of Evil, London, Elkin Mathews, first published 1909
- GER German (Deutsch) (Terese Robinson, née Therese Langenbach) , "Die zersprungene Glocke", first published 1925
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 114