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 !

View original text (without footnotes)

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"

Text 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: 170

Race of Abel, sleep, drink and eat. 
God smiles approvingly on you. 

Race of Cain, crawl in the muck 
and die miserably. 

Race of Abel, your sacrifice 
tickles the nose of the Seraphim! 

Race of Cain, will your torture 
ever be over? 

Race of Abel, see how well 
your crops and cattle have turned out. 

Race of Cain, your guts 
scream with hunger like an old dog. 

Race of Abel, warm your belly 
at your father's hearth. 

Race of Cain, shake with cold
in your den, poor jackal! 

Race of Abel, love and multiply!
Even your gold has offspring. 

Race of Cain, burning heart,
beware of these big appetites. 

Race of Abel, you grow and graze 
like wood fleas! 

Race of Cain, you trail your family
behind you in desperation.

Oh, race of Abel, your decaying carcass 
will fertilize the steaming soil!

Race of Cain, your job 
is not yet done. 

Race of Abel, see your shame:
Iron is defeated by the spear! 

Race of Cain, climb up to heaven 
and throw down God to earth!