# Alchimie de la douleur · Alchemy of Sorrow

Les Fleurs du mal · Charles Baudelaire · Spleen and Ideal

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/alchimie-de-la-douleur. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/alchimie-de-la-douleur.json.

**1** L'un t'éclaire avec son ardeur,  
One man lights you with his ardor,
> L'un … l'autre: «l'un … l'autre» is the correlative pair 'one … the other'. Here «l'un» (this stanza) and «l'autre» (next line) set two kinds of person against each other; the «t'» / «toi» they both address is «Nature», named at the end of line 2.

**2** L'autre en toi met son deuil, Nature!  
The other lays his mourning in you, Nature!
> deuil (m.): «deuil» = mourning, grief, bereavement — the black of loss. «mettre son deuil en…» here means to pour one's mourning into something: the second man projects his grief onto Nature herself.

**3** Ce qui dit à l'un: Sépulture!  
What says to the one: Sepulcher!

**4** Dit à l'autre: Vie et splendeur!  
Says to the other: Life and splendor!


**5** Hermès inconnu qui m'assistes  
Unknown Hermes who assist me
> Hermès (Hermes Trismegistus): Beyond the Greek messenger-god, «Hermès» evokes Hermes Trismegistus, the legendary father of alchemy (hence 'hermetic'). «inconnu» = unknown; the poet calls on a hidden, hermetic power that secretly governs his transformations.

**6** Et qui toujours m'intimidas,  
And who always cowed me,
> Passé simple, 2nd person: «intimidas» is the «passé simple» (tu form) of «intimider», 'to intimidate / overawe'. This literary past tense is rare in speech; «toujours … intimidas» pairs it with «toujours» to give the awe a timeless, fated weight.

**7** Tu me rends l'égal de Midas,  
You make me the equal of Midas,

**8** Le plus triste des alchimistes;  
The saddest of alchemists;


**9** Par toi je change l'or en fer  
Through you I change gold into iron
> changer X en Y: «changer A en B» = 'to change A into B'. The construction inverts the alchemist's dream: instead of base metal into gold, «l'or en fer» (gold into iron) and «le paradis en enfer» (paradise into hell).

**10** Et le paradis en enfer;  
And paradise into hell;

**11** Dans le suaire des nuages  
In the shroud of the clouds
> suaire (m.): «suaire» = a shroud, the cloth wrapping a corpse (as in the Shroud of Turin). Calling the clouds a «suaire» turns the open sky into a winding-sheet — and the line runs on, without a stop, into the next stanza.


**12** Je découvre un cadavre cher,  
I discover a beloved corpse,

**13** Et sur les célestes rivages  
And on the celestial shores

**14** Je bâtis de grands sarcophages.  
I build great sarcophagi.
> bâtir: «bâtir» = to build, to erect (a building). «Je bâtis» can be present or «passé simple» (identical in form); read as present, it leaves the poet endlessly raising «sarcophages» — stone coffins — in the sky.

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Source text: public domain (Charles Baudelaire, d. 1867). English translation: © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC — original draft, pending editorial review.