par Charles Baudelaire (translation by Joanna Richardson)


O toi, le plus savant et le plus beau des Anges,
O thou, of Angels lovliest, most wise,
Dieu trahi par le sorte et prive de louanges,
O God betrayed by fate, deprived of praise
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


O Prince de l’exile, a qui l’on a fait tort,
O Prince of exile, who was dispossessed,
Et qui, vaincu, toujours te redresses plus fort,
Who ever rises stronger when oppressed,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


Toi qui sais tout, grand roi des choses souterraines,
O thou who knowest all, Hell’s soverign,
Guerisseur familier des angoisses humaines,
Known healer of mankind’s afflictions,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


Toi qui, meme aux lepreux, aux parias maudis,
Thou who the lepers and pariahs doomed
Enseignes par l’amour le gout du Paradis,
Show out of love the Paradise to come,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!

Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


O toi qui de la Mort, ta vieille et forte amante,
Thou who in Death, your mistress old and strong,
Engendras l’Experance, -une folle charmante!
Breeds Hope - delightful aberration!
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


Toi qui fais au proscrit ce regard calme et haut
Thou who dost give the outlaw the proud glance
Qui damne tout un peuple autour d’un echafaud,
Which damns the crowd who watch his sufference,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


Toi qui sais en quels coins des terres envieuses
Thou who dost know Where greedy earth enfolds
Le Dieu jaloux cacha les pierres precieuses,
The precious stones a jealous God concealed,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


Toi don’t l’oeil clair connait les profonds arsenaux
Thou whose clear eye knows the deep sepulchres
Ou dort enseveli le peuple des metaux,
Where multitudes of metals lie interred,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


Toi don’t la large main cache les precipices
Thou whose great hand conceals the precipice
Au somnambule errant au bord des edifices,
From the somnambulist whom roofs entice,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


Toi qui, magiquement, assouplis les vieux os
Thou who by magic softens the old bones
De l’ivronge attarde foule par les chevaux,
Of loitering drunks by horses trampled down,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


Toi qui, pour consonler l’homme frele qui souffre,
Thou who, consoling frail mankind in pain,
Nous appris a meler le saloetre et le souffre,
Taught us to make our guns and gun-cotton,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


Toi qui poses ta marque, o complice subtil,
Thou who didst set thy mark, accomplice skilled,
Sur le front du Cresus impitoyable et cil,
Upon the heart of Croesus harsh and vile,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Toi qui mets dans les yeux et dans le coeur des filles
Thou who put into women’s hearts and eyes
Le culte de la plaie et l’amour des guenilles,
The cult of wounds, the love of poverty,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


Baton des exiles, lamoe des inventeurs,
Staff of the exile and discoverer,
Confesseur des pendus et des conspirateurs,
Confessor of condemned conspirator,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!


Pere adoptif de ceux qu’en sa noire colere
Father to those whom in his sombre wrath
Du paradis terrestre a chasses Dieu le pere,
Dog drove from his paradise on earth,
O Satan, prends pitie de ma longue misere!


Satan, have mercy on my long distress!



Priere
Prayer
Gloire et louange a toi, Satan, dans les hauteurs
To Thee, o Satan, glory be, and praise
Du Ciel, ou tu egnas, et dans les profondeurs
In Heaven, once Thy kingdom, the abyss
De l’Enfer, ou, vaincu, tu reves en silence!
Of Hell, where, now, thou dreamest silently!
Fais que mon ame un jour, sous l’Abre de Science,
Grant that my soul, one day, beneath the Tree Of
Knowledge,
Pres de toi se repse, a l’heure ou sur ton front
May rest near thee, when o’erheard,
Comme un Temple nouveau ses rameaux s’epandront!
Like a new Temple, its wide branches spread!