French · Spleen and Ideal

À une Madone

To a Madonna

45 lines · 9 notes

Tap a line to open its words.

1
Ex-voto in the Spanish taste
Ex-votoEx-votoex-voto · noun, masculine, singularhead of the phrase
dansindans · prepositionpreposition marking goût
lethele · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of goût
goûttastegoût · noun, masculine, singularmodifies Ex-voto
espagnolSpanishespagnol · adjective, singularmodifies goût
2
I want to build for you, Madonna, my mistress,
3
an underground altar in the depths of my distress,
4
and to hollow out, in the blackest corner of my heart,
5
far from worldly desire and the mocking gaze,
6
a niche, all enameled in azure and gold,
7
where you will stand erect, a wondering Statue.
GrammarPronominal «se dresser» + future «se dresser» = 'to stand up, rise erect, draw oneself up'. The reflexive «te» makes the rising the statue's own act. The future «dresseras» joins the chain of vows («Je veux bâtir… Je ferai… Je saurai…») in which the poet promises to enshrine her: 'where you will stand erect.'
8
With my polished Verses, a lattice of pure metal
9
skillfully studded with rhymes of crystal,
10
I will make for your head an enormous Crown;
11
and out of my Jealousy, O mortal Madonna,
12
I will know how to cut you a Mantle, in a fashion
Grammar«savoir» + infinitive = know how to «savoir» before an infinitive means 'to know how to', not merely 'to know'. In the future, «je saurai te tailler» = 'I will know how to cut you' — i.e. 'I will manage to / be able to cut you' a mantle. The object pronoun «te» here is the dative 'for you'.
13
barbaric, stiff and heavy, and lined with suspicion,
Wordroide / raide «roide» is the older spelling of «raide» = 'stiff, rigid, unbending'. Baudelaire keeps the archaic form for its heavier sound and antique color, in keeping with the «barbare» mantle being forged.
14
which, like a sentry-box, will shut in your charms,
Wordguérite (f.) «une guérite» is a sentry-box — the small, close booth a soldier stands guard in. The jealous mantle encloses her «charmes» as tightly and grimly as a sentry-box hems in its guard.
15
embroidered not with Pearls, but with all my Tears!
16
Your Robe — it will be my Desire, quivering,
17
undulant, my Desire that rises and falls,
18
on the peaks it sways, in the hollows it rests,
GrammarPronominal verbs + fronted phrases «se balancer» = 'to sway, swing' and «se reposer» = 'to rest' — both reflexive, the Desire moving of its own accord. The adverbial phrases are fronted («Aux pointes se balance»), so the subject «mon Désir» from the line before is understood: '[it] sways on the peaks, rests in the hollows.'
19
and clothes with a kiss all your body, white and pink.
20
I will make you, out of my Respect, fair Slippers
21
of satin, humbled by your divine feet,
22
which, imprisoning them in a soft embrace,
23
like a faithful mold will keep their imprint.
24
If I cannot, despite all my diligent art,
Grammar«puis» — literary «je peux» «puis» is the literary first-person of «pouvoir» ('to be able'), used instead of «peux» especially after «je» in elevated or interrogative style. «Si je ne puis» = 'if I cannot'; it sets up the concession that follows — failing a silver footstool, he will give the Serpent instead.
25
carve for a Footstool a moon of silver,
26
I will set the Serpent that gnaws my entrails
27
beneath your heels, so that you may trample and mock
Grammar«afin que» + subjunctive «afin que» ('so that, in order that') always governs the subjunctive of purpose. «foules» and «railles» are present subjunctives of «fouler» ('to tread, trample') and «railler» ('to mock, jeer at') — 'so that you may trample and mock'. The image is the Virgin crushing the serpent underfoot.
28
Queen victorious and fertile in redemptions,
29
that monster all swollen with hatred and with spittle.
30
You will see my Thoughts, ranged like the Candles
Wordpenser (m.) / cierge «un penser» is an archaic, poetic masculine noun for 'a thought' (alongside the everyday «une pensée»). «un cierge» is a tall church candle, the kind set burning before an altar — so his thoughts are arrayed like votive tapers before the «Reine des Vierges».
31
before the flowered altar of the Queen of Virgins,
32
starring with reflections the ceiling painted blue,
33
to gaze at you forever with eyes of fire;
34
and since all in me cherishes you and admires you,
35
all will turn to Benzoin, Incense, Frankincense, Myrrh,
Wordbenjoin / oliban «le benjoin» is benzoin, a sweet balsamic resin; «l'oliban» is olibanum, the church name for frankincense. With «Encens» and «Myrrhe», the line lists four aromatic resins burned as incense — everything in him will be consumed into fragrant smoke rising toward the idol.
36
and ceaselessly toward you, white and snowy summit,
37
in Vapors will rise my stormy Spirit.
38
At last, to complete your role as Mary,
39
and to mingle love together with barbarity,
40
black Voluptuousness! out of the seven Deadly Sins,
41
an executioner full of remorse, I will make seven Knives
42
well whetted, and like an unfeeling juggler,
43
taking the deepest of your love for a target,
44
I will plant them all in your panting Heart,
45
in your sobbing Heart, in your streaming Heart!

The particulars

The text: Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire. Spleen and Ideal.
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
Data: JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents