Ô Mort, vieux capitaine, il est temps!...

Ô Mort, vieux capitaine, il est temps! levons l'ancre! 
[Ce]1 pays nous ennuie, ô Mort! Appareillons! 
Si le ciel et la mer sont noirs comme de l'encre, 
Nos coeurs que tu connais sont remplis de rayons! 

Verse-nous ton poison pour qu'il nous réconforte! 
Nous voulons, tant ce feu qui nous brûle le cerveau, 
Plonger au fond du gouffre. Enfer ou Ciel, qu'importe? 
Au fond de l'Inconnu pour trouver du nouveau!

by Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) , no title, from Les Fleurs du Mal, in La Mort, in 126. Le Voyage, no. 8

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Gary Bachlund , "Pour le Voyage", 1990 [medium voice and piano], from La Mort, no. 11.
by Aleksandr Tikhonovich Gretchaninov (1864-1956) , "La Mort", op. 48 no. 5, from Les Fleurs du Mal, no. 5, note: also set in Russian
by Jonathan Harvey (1939-) , "La Mort", 1975, from Correspondances, no. 1.

by Aleksandr Tikhonovich Gretchaninov (1864-1956) , "Smert'", op. 48 no. 5, from Cvety zla, no. 5, note: also set in French

by Erich J. Wolff (1874-1913) , "Der Tod", Lieder no. 52, published 1914.

ENG English (Ahmed E. Ismail)
ENG English (Ahmed E. Ismail)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Smert'

O smert', staryj nash kormchij, chas nastal: podnimem jakor'!
Mir naskuchil nam davno, o smert', my zhdjom tebja!
Pust' nebes cheren svod, pust' mrachna glub' morej,
nashi serdca, ty znajesh' ikh svetjat jarche ognja!

Smert' skorej, nas ukrepi, jad svoj prolej nam v serdce!
Nash mozg v tvojom gorit, o smert', ogne,
on v bezdnu nas vlechet. Toad il' raj, ne vse l' ravno?
V bezvestnoj glubine najdjom my novyj mir.

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Note on Transliteration

by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist

a text in French by Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) , no title, from Les Fleurs du Mal, in La Mort, in 126. Le Voyage, no. 8 ENG

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Aleksandr Tikhonovich Gretchaninov (1864-1956) , "Smert'", op. 48 no. 5, from Cvety zla, no. 5, note: also set in French

Date added to the website: 0000-00-00.