L'Albatros-The albatross- El albatros by Charles Baudelaire

This is a poem, I did learn in elementary school. This sad poem about a bullied albatros, put in words how I felt as a foreigner in a new country.Well, I was a talented  mini-griot so I have never been bullied!Baudelaire symbolism captivated me. My teacher used the term of artistic exile. It was exactly how I felt. I was in exile and my qualities became disabilities in a new land. What was graceful  to me, was ridiculed by my classmates.  However, Baudelaire and his pitiful albatross gave me hope. If he felt awkward and disabled in his own country. It meant that I would be fine!!

 Thanks to all the awesome teachers that introduced me to poetry !!!
Enjoy ...

L'ALBATROS from Les Fleurs du Mal

Souvent, pour s'amuser, les hommes d'équipage
Prennent des albatros, vastes oiseaux des mers,
Qui suivent, indolents compagnons de voyage,
Le navire glissant sur les gouffres amers.

A peine les ont-ils déposés sur les planches,
Que ces rois de l'azur, maladroits et honteux,
Laissent piteusement leurs grandes ailes blanches
Comme des avirons traîer à côté d'eux.

Ce voyageur ailé, comme il est gauche et veule!
Lui, naguère si beau, qu'il est comique et laid!
L'un agace son bec avec un brûle-gueule,
L'autre mime, en boitant, l'infirme qui volait!

Le Poëte est semblable au prince des nuées
Qui hante la tempête et se rit de l'archer;
Exilé sur le sol au milieu des huées,
Ses ailes de géant l'empêchent de marcher.

THE ALBATROSS from The Flowers of Evil

Often, for pastime, mariners will ensnare
The albatross, that vast sea-bird who sweeps
On high companionable pinion where
Their vessel glides upon the bitter deeps.

Torn from his native space, this captive king
Flounders upon the deck in stricken pride,
And pitiably lets his great white wing
Drag like a heavy paddle at his side.

This rider of winds, how awkward he is, and weak!
How droll he seems, who lately was all grace!
A sailor pokes a pipestem into his beak;
Another, hobbling, mocks his trammeled pace.

The Poet is like this monarch of the clouds,
Familiar of storms, of stars, and of all high things;
Exiled on earth amidst its hooting crowds,
He cannot walk, borne down by his giant wings.

                                       — translated by Richard Wilbur

  From here 

El albatros

Por distraerse, a veces, suelen los marineros
Dar caza a los albatros, grandes aves del mar,
Que siguen, indolentes compañeros de viaje,
Al navío surcando los amargos abismos.

Apenas los arrojan sobre las tablas húmedas,
Estos reyes celestes, torpes y avergonzados,
Dejan penosamente arrastrando las alas,
Sus grandes alas blancas semejantes a remos.

Este alado viajero, ¡qué inútil y qué débil!
Él, otrora tan bello, ¡qué feo y qué grotesco!
¡Éste quema su pico, sádico, con la pipa,
Aquél, mima cojeando al planeador inválido!

El Poeta es igual a este señor del nublo,
Que habita la tormenta y ríe del ballestero.
Exiliado en la tierra, sufriendo el griterío,
Sus alas de gigante le impiden caminar.

From here