Pluviôse irrité contre la [ville]1 entière De son urne à grands flots verse un froid ténébreux Aux pâles habitants du voisin cimetière Et la mortalité sur les faubourgs brumeux. Mon chat sur le carreau cherchant une litière Agite sans repos son corps maigre et galeux ; [L'ombre]2 d'un vieux poète erre dans la gouttière Avec la triste voix d'un fantôme frileux. Le bourdon se lamente, et la bûche enfumée Accompagne en fausset la pendule enrhumée, Cependant qu'en un jeu plein de sales parfums, Héritage fatal d'une vieille hydropique, Le beau valet de cœur et la dame de pique Causent sinistrement de leurs amours défunts.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857, in Spleen et Idéal, pages 138-139. Also confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1861, in Spleen et Idéal, pages 170-171. Also confirmed with Charles Baudelaire, Œuvres complètes de Charles Baudelaire, vol. I : Les Fleurs du mal, Paris: Michel Lévy frères, 1868, in Spleen et Idéal, page 198. Punctuation follows 1857 edition. The modern spelling "poète" in line 8 used in the 1857 edition is preferred over the historical spelling "poëte" used in the 1861 and 1868 editions.
First published by Le Messager de l'Assemblée, April 9, 1851. Also appears as number 59 in the 1857 edition of Les Fleurs du mal and as number 75 or 77 in subsequent editions.
1 1868 edition: "vie"2 1861 and 1868 editions: "L'âme"
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Spleen", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 59, Paris, Le Messager de l'Assemblée, first published 1851 [author's text checked 4 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 Gilles Auger (b. 1957), "Spleen 1", 2009 [ medium voice (male voice) and piano ], from Spleen, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Haasz) , "Spleen (1)"
- ENG English (Cyril Meir Scott) , "Spleen", appears in The Flowers of Evil, London, Elkin Mathews, first published 1909
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2014-01-18
Line count: 14
Word count: 105
The rainy moon of all the world is weary, And from its urn a gloomy cold pours down, Upon the pallid inmates of the mortuary, And on the neighbouring outskirts of the town. My wasted cat, in searching for a litter, Bestirs its mangy paws from post to post; (A poet's soul that wanders in the gutter, With the jaded voice of a shiv'ring ghost). The smoking pine-log, while the drone laments, Accompanies the wheezy pendulum, The while amidst a haze of dirty scents, — Those fatal remnants of a sick man's room — The gallant knave of hearts and queen of spades Relate their ancient amorous escapades.
Confirmed with Cyril Scott, The Flowers of Evil [by Charles Baudelaire; translated into English verse by Cyril Scott], London: Elkin Mathews, 1909, page 51.
Text Authorship:
- by Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "Spleen", appears in The Flowers of Evil, London, Elkin Mathews, first published 1909 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), "Spleen", appears in Les Fleurs du mal, in 1. Spleen et Idéal, no. 59, Paris, Le Messager de l'Assemblée, first published 1851
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: Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-08-20
Line count: 14
Word count: 108