by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867)
Translation by Delfim Guimarães (1872 - 1933)
Souvent, pour s'amuser, les hommes...
Language: French (Français)
Souvent, pour s'amuser, les hommes d'équipage Prennent des albatros, vastes oiseaux des mers, Qui suivent, indolents compagnons de voyage, Le navire glissant sur les gouffres amers. À peine les ont-ils déposés sur les planches, Que ces rois de l'azur, maladroits et honteux, Laissent piteusement leurs grandes ailes blanches Comme des avirons traîner à côté d'eux. Ce voyageur ailé, comme il est gauche et veule ! Lui, naguère si beau, qu'il est comique et laid ! L'un agace son bec avec un brûle-gueule, L'autre mime, en boitant, l'infirme qui volait ! Le Poëte est semblable au prince des nuées Qui hante la tempête et se rit de l'archer ; Exilé sur le sol au milieu des huées, Ses ailes de géant l'empêchent de marcher.
E. Chausson sets stanzas 1-2, 4
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1861, in Spleen et Idéal, pages 11-12.
Note: modern French spelling would change "Poëte" (stanza 4, line 1) to "Poète"
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "L'albatros", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 2, first published 1859-61 [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 John Bartlett (b. 1949), "L’Albatros", 2001 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Robert Caby (1905 - 1992), "L'Albatros", 1948, published 1948 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855 - 1899), "L'albatros", published 1879, stanzas 1-2,4 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Laurent Coulomb (b. 1977), "L'Albatros", op. 51 (2020), first performed 2020 [ baritone or mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Konstantin Nikolayevich L'dov (1862 - 1935), "Le Prince des Nuées", op. 55, copyright © 1933 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Vincent Minazzoli (b. 1960), "L'albatros", 1989 [ high voice and piano ], from Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nguyen Phuc Buu Phoi (b. 1945), "L'Albatros", 2006?, published 2006 [ soprano and piano ], from Les Fleurs du Mal, six mélodies pour soprano et piano, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cyril Plante (b. 1975), "L'albatros", op. 111 no. 1 [ high voice and piano ], from Cycle Baudelairien, no. 1, Édition du compositeur [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Haasz) , "Albatros"
- ENG English (David K. Smythe) , "The albatross", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , "’Z albatrosz", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Árpád Tóth) , "Az albatrosz", written 1918
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "L'albatro", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Bronisława Ostrowska) , "Albatros", Kraków, first published 1911
- POR Portuguese (Português) (Delfim Guimarães) , "O albatroz"
- ROM Romanian (Română) (Alexandru I. Philippide) , "Albatrosul"
Research team for this page: Ted Perry , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 119
O albatroz
Language: Portuguese (Português) after the French (Français)
Às vezes no alto mar, distrai-se a marinhagem Na caça do albatroz, ave enorme e voraz, Que segue pelo azul a embarcação em viagem, Num vôo triunfal, numa carreira audaz. Mas quando o albatroz se vê preso, estendido Nas tábuas do convés, — pobre rei destronado! Que pena que ele faz, humilde e constrangido, As asas imperiais caídas para o lado! Dominador do espaço, eis perdido o seu nimbo! Era grande e gentil, ei-lo o grotescio verme!... Chega-lhe um ao bico o fogo do cachimbo, Mutila um outro a pata ao voador inerme. O Poeta é semelhante a essa águia marinha Que desdenha da seta, e afronta os vendavais; Exilado na terra, entre a plebe escarninha, Não o deixam andar as asas colossais!
Text Authorship:
- by Delfim Guimarães (1872 - 1933), "O albatroz" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "L'albatros", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 2, first published 1859-61
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 ]
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-08-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 123