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by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867)
Translation by Stefan George (1868 - 1933)

Les plaintes d'un Icare
Language: French (Français) 
Les amants des prostituées
Sont heureux, dispos et repus ;
Quant à moi, mes bras sont rompus
Pour avoir étreint des nuées.

C'est grâce aux astres nonpareils,
Qui tout au fond du ciel flamboient,
Que mes yeux consumés ne voient
Que des souvenirs de soleils.

En vain j'ai voulu de l'espace
Trouver la fin et le milieu ;
Sous je ne sais quel œil de feu
Je sens mon aile qui se casse ;

Et brûlé par l'amour du beau,
Je n'aurai pas l'honneur sublime
De donner mon nom à l'abîme
Qui me servira de tombeau.

Confirmed with Le Parnasse contemporain : receuil de vers nouveaux, premier receuil, [Paris?]: Alphonse Lemerre, 1866, pages 79-80.

First published by Alphonse Lemerre in Le Parnasse contemporain : receuil de vers nouveaux, premier receuil, 1866; also appears under Spleen et Idéal as number 103 in the 1868 edition of Les Fleurs du mal.


Text Authorship:

  • by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Les Plaintes d'un Icare", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 103, Paris(?), Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1866 [author's text checked 2 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):

  • by Gordon Kerry (b. 1961), "Les plaintes d'un Icare", 1985 [ voice and piano ], from Obsessions, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Haasz) , "Nářky Ikarovy"
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Stefan George) , "Klagen eines Ikarus", appears in Die Blumen des Bösen, in Trübsinn und Vergeisterung, first published 1901


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2013-08-15
Line count: 16
Word count: 93

Klagen eines Ikarus
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the French (Français) 
Die dirnen mit ihren buben
Sind aufgelegt glücklich und satt ..
Und ich – meine arme sind matt
Die sie in wolken sich gruben.

Die unvergleichlichen sterne
Die glänzend am himmelsgrund stehn
Lassen die augen nur ferne
Sonnen-erinnrungen sehn.

Ich wollte des ungeheuern
Mitte finden und schluss ·
Ich fühle wie unter feuern
Mein flügel zerfallen muss.

Und den liebe zum Schönen verbrennt –
Es wird nicht einmal ihm die ehre
Dass die ihn begrabende leere
Mit seinem namen man nennt.

Confirmed with Stefan George, Die Blumen des Bösen, Berlin: Bondi, 1901, page 119.


Text Authorship:

  • by Stefan George (1868 - 1933), "Klagen eines Ikarus", appears in Die Blumen des Bösen, in Trübsinn und Vergeisterung, first published 1901 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in French (Français) by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Les Plaintes d'un Icare", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 103, Paris(?), Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1866
    • Go to the text page.

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: 2019-08-25
Line count: 16
Word count: 81

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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