Race d'Abel, dors, bois et mange : Dieu te sourit complaisamment, Race de Caïn, dans la fange Rampe et meurs misérablement. Race d'Abel, ton sacrifice Flatte le nez du Séraphin ! Race de Caïn, ton supplice Aura-t-il jamais une fin ? Race d'Abel, vois tes semailles Et ton bétail venir à bien ; Race de Caïn, tes entrailles Hurlent la faim comme un vieux chien. Race d'Abel, chauffe ton ventre À ton foyer patriarcal ; Race de Caïn, dans ton antre Tremble de froid, pauvre chacal ! Race d'Abel, [sans peur pullule : L'argent]1 fait aussi [ses]2 petits ; Race de Caïn, [ton cœur brûle ;]3 [Éteins ces cruels]4 appétits. Race d'Abel, tu [croîs]5 et broutes Comme les punaises des bois ! Race de Caïn, sur les routes Traîne ta famille aux abois. -- Ah ! race d'Abel, ta charogne Engraissera le sol fumant ! Race de Caïn, ta besogne N'est pas faite suffisamment ; Race d'Abel, voici ta honte : Le fer est vaincu par l'épieu ! Race de Caïn, au ciel monte, Et sur la terre jette Dieu !
Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857, in Révolte, pages 219-221. Note: this was number 91 in the first edition of Les Fleurs du mal but number 119 or 144 in subsequent editions.
Note: This poem is split into two parts in the 1861 and 1868 editions, but not in the 1857 edition. In the 1861 and 1868 editions, stanzas 1-12 are in section I and the rest are in section II.
1 1861 edition, 1868 edition, and G. Frid: "aime et pullule ! / Ton or"2 1861 edition, 1868 edition, and G. Frid: "des"
3 1861 edition, 1868 edition, and G. Frid: "cœur qui brûle,"
4 1861 edition, 1868 edition, and G. Frid: "Prends garde à ces grands"
5 1868 edition and G. Frid: "crois"
Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Abel et Caïn", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 5. Révolte, no. 119, Paris, Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, first published 1857 [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 Géza Frid (1904 - 1989), "Abel et Caïn", op. 15 (1938) [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Abel i Kain", first published 1927
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "Abel and Cain", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) (Nikolay Stepanovich Gumilyov) , "Авель и Каин"
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: 32
Word count: 180
I Syn Avelja, dremli, pitajsja; K tebe sklonen s ulybkoj Bog. Syn Kaina, v grjazi valjajsja, Svoj ispustiv predsmertnyj vzdoch. Syn Avelja, tvoe kuren'e — Otrada angel'skich serdec! Syn Kaina, tvoe mučen'e Izvedaet li svoj konec? Syn Avelja, ty o poseve Ne dumaj: Bog ego voznes. Syn Kaina, v golodnom čreve Tvoem kak budto laet pes. Syn Avelja, ty grejsja pered Patriarchal'nym očagom. Syn Kaina, moroz' svoj vered, Šakal nesčastnyj, pod kustom. Syn Avelja, ljubi i množ'sja, Kak den'gi množatsja tvoi. Syn Kaina, ty ne trevož'sja, Kogda uslyšiš' zov ljubvi. Syn Avelja, umnožen Bogom Tvoj rod, kak po lesu klopy! Syn Kaina, ty po dorogam Vlači s sem'ej svoi stopy. II Aga, syn Avelja, v boloto Leč' plot' tvoja osuždena! Syn Kaina, tvoja rabota Kak sleduet ne sveršena. Syn Avelja, poščad ne trebuj, Pronzen rogatinoj naskvoz'! Syn Kaina, vzbirajsja k nebu I Gospoda ottuda sbros'.
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Authorship:
- by Nikolay Stepanovich Gumilyov (1886 - 1921), "Авель и Каин" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Abel et Caïn", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 5. Révolte, no. 119, 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):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-12-03
Line count: 34
Word count: 145