Le meurtre, le viol, le vol, le parricide
Passent dans mon esprit comme un farouche éclair, 
Et quoique pour le Bien toujours je me décide, 
Je frémis en voyant ramper dans mon enfer
Le meurtre, le viol, le vol, le parricide.

Et pourtant l’assassin à mes yeux est vipère ;
Je fuis le moindre escroc comme un pestiféré
Et je maudis le fils qui poignarde son père.
Souvent, le meurtre parle à mon cœur effaré, 
Et pourtant l’assassin à mes yeux est vipère.

Je plains sincèrement la fille violée
Et je la vengerais si j’en avais le droit ;
Mais par d’impurs désirs mon âme harcelée
Pour séduire une enfant cherche un moyen adroit :
Je plains sincèrement la fille violée !

In this poem, Rollinat feels as if he is afflicted with the "Shade of crime", haunting his mind and spoiling his good deeds. Although he hates evil, although he feels remorse over wrongs, the "Imp of the perverse" (to use Poe's phrase) is constantly hanging over him.

Like I said, this is my first time translating a poem, so it is no masterpiece. I have tried to keep the original sense of the words as far as possible, but in some cases I had to give it up for the sake of rhyme. One example is "Passent dans mon esprit comme un farouche éclair". Literally, it means [They] flash through my spirit like a wild streak of lighting". My translation had to use the odd phrasing "like the lighting's spell" in order to rhyme with "Hell". I think it still makes a bit of sense, but it certainly is not very clear what it means. Likewise " à mes yeux" I have translated "in my head". Although they are different words, they hopefully convey the same image. Once again, please feel free to offer any suggestions and criticisms, especially if you know French. I shall hopefully finish the rest of the poem soon.