The Lid / Le Couvercle Charles Baudelaire Frank Pearce Sturm
The Lid
Wherever he be, on water or land,
Under pale suns or climes that flames enfold;
One of Christ’s own, or of Cythera’s band,
Shadowy beggar or Croesus rich with gold;
Citizen, peasant, student, tramp, whatever
His little brain may be, alive or dead;
Man knows the fear of mystery everywhere,
And peeps, with trembling glances, overhead.
The heaven above? A strangling cavern wall;
The lighted ceiling of a music-hall
Where every actor treads a bloody soil;
The hermit’s hope; the terror of the sot;
The sky: the black lid of the mighty pot
Where the vast human generations boil!
The note on the translation:
| This is a translation and has a separate copyright status from the original text. The license for the translation applies to this edition only. |
| Original: |
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This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. |
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| Translation: |
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This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1923.
The author died in 1942, so this work is also in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 60 years or less. This work may also be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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