French · Spleen and Ideal

Bénédiction

Benediction

76 lines · 26 notes

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When, by a decree of the supreme powers,
Lorsquewhenlorsque · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of apparaît (next line)
parbypar · prepositionpreposition marking décret
unaun · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of décret
décretdecreedécret · noun, masculine, singularoblique argument of apparaît (next line)
desof thede · prepositionpreposition marking puissances
puissancespowerspuissance · noun, feminine, pluralmodifies décret
suprêmessupremesuprême · adjective, pluralmodifies puissances
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The Poet appears in this bored world,
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His mother, terrified and full of blasphemies,
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Clenches her fists toward God, who takes pity on her:
Wordprendre en pitié A fixed idiom: «prendre qqn. en pitié» = 'to take pity on someone'. Literally 'to take someone into pity'. Here «qui la prend en pitié» = 'who takes pity on her'.
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— "Ah! why did I not spawn a whole knot of vipers,
Grammar«que ne» + inversion = a wish or reproach «que n'ai-je…» is an exclamatory turn meaning 'why did I not…' / 'would that I had…'. The «ne» is not a true negative here; «que ne» + inverted verb expresses regret or longing. «mettre bas» = 'to give birth' (of an animal).
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Rather than nourish this object of derision!
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Cursed be the night of fleeting pleasures
GrammarSubjunctive of malediction «soit» is the present subjunctive of «être», used here for a curse: «maudite soit la nuit» = 'cursed be the night'. The verb comes before its subject, a formula for solemn wishes (cf. 'blessed be…').
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When my womb conceived my expiation!
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Since you have chosen me from among all women
GrammarPast participle agreement With «avoir», the past participle agrees with a preceding direct object. Here «m'» (the mother, feminine) precedes «choisi», so it takes a feminine «-e»: «tu m'as choisie» = 'you have chosen me'.
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To be the disgust of my sorrowful husband,
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And since I cannot cast back into the flames,
Grammarpuis = literary 'je peux' «je puis» is the elevated, literary form of «je peux» ('I can'), from «pouvoir». «Et que…» continues the «Puisque» from the line above: 'and since I cannot…'.
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Like a love-note, this stunted monster,
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I will make your hatred that crushes me rebound
GrammarCausative «faire» + infinitive «faire» + infinitive means 'to make / cause (something) to happen'. «je ferai rejaillir ta haine» = 'I will make your hatred splash back / rebound'. «rejaillir» = to spurt or splash back.
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Upon the accursed instrument of your cruelties,
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And I will twist this wretched tree so well,
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That it will never sprout its pestilent buds!"
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So she swallows back the foam of her hatred,
Wordravaler «ravaler» = to swallow back, to choke down (something one would spit out). «ravaler l'écume de sa haine» — 'to swallow back the foam of her hatred' — pictures rage gulped down rather than spoken.
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And, not understanding the eternal designs,
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She herself prepares, in the depths of Gehenna,
WordGehenna «la Géhenne» (Gehenna) is a biblical name for hell, from the valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem. The mother, blind to God's plan, unwittingly builds the pyres of her own damnation.
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The pyres consecrated to a mother's crimes.
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Yet, under the invisible guardianship of an Angel,
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The disinherited Child grows drunk on sunlight
GrammarReflexive verb + «de» «s'enivrer de qqch.» = 'to get drunk on / intoxicated with something'. The reflexive «se» makes it 'to make oneself drunk'; «de soleil» names what intoxicates him. It returns four lines later as «s'enivre en chantant».
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And in all that he drinks and in all that he eats
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He finds again ambrosia and the crimson nectar.
WordAmbrosia and nectar In Greek myth «l'ambroisie» (ambrosia) is the food and «le nectar» the drink of the gods, conferring immortality. «vermeil» = bright red, crimson. The blessed Child tastes the divine in ordinary bread and water.
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He plays with the wind, chats with the cloud,
Wordcauser = to chat «causer (avec)» means 'to chat, to talk' — a false friend, not 'to cause'. «cause avec le nuage» = 'chats with the cloud'.
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And, singing, grows drunk on the way of the cross;
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And the Spirit that follows him on his pilgrimage
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Weeps to see him merry as a bird of the woods.
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All those he would love watch him with dread,
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Or else, emboldened by his calm,
GrammarReflexive present participle «s'enhardir» = 'to grow bold, to take courage' (from «hardi», bold). The present participle «s'enhardissant de…» = 'growing bold from / emboldened by…'; «de sa tranquillité» names the cause.
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Vie to see who can wring a complaint from him,
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And test their ferocity upon him.
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Into the bread and wine meant for his mouth
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They mix ash with foul spittle;
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Hypocritically they throw away whatever he touches,
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And accuse themselves of having stepped in his footprints.
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His wife goes crying through the public squares:
Grammar«aller» + present participle «aller» + a present participle (here «criant») expresses an action drawn out or repeated over time: «va criant» = 'goes about crying / keeps crying'. A literary construction, more vivid than the plain present.
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"Since he finds me fair enough to adore me,
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I will ply the trade of the ancient idols,
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And like them I want to have myself regilded;
Grammar«se faire» + infinitive (passive causative) «se faire» + infinitive means 'to have something done to oneself': «me faire redorer» = 'to have myself regilded'. «redorer» = to re-gild, recover in gold leaf, as one restores a gilded idol.
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And I will glut myself on spikenard, incense, myrrh,
WordSpikenard, incense, myrrh «nard» (spikenard), «encens» (incense), and «myrrhe» (myrrh) are precious aromatics of biblical worship. «se soûler de» = 'to get drunk on'; the wife craves the sensual trappings of a goddess.
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On genuflections, on meats and wines,
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To learn whether, in a heart that admires me, I can
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Usurp, laughing, the homage owed to gods!
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And, when I grow weary of these impious farces,
Grammars'ennuyer de «s'ennuyer» is reflexive, 'to be bored'; «s'ennuyer de qqch.» = 'to grow tired/weary of something'. The future «je m'ennuierai» = 'when I shall grow weary…'.
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I will lay upon him my frail and forceful hand;
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And my nails, like the talons of the harpies,
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Will know how to carve their way clear to his heart.
Wordse frayer un chemin «se frayer un chemin» = 'to clear / force a path for oneself'. A reflexive idiom: the nails cut their own way through to his heart. «sauront» (future of «savoir») here = 'will know how to'.
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Like a fledgling bird that trembles and throbs,
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I will tear that heart, all red, from his breast,
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And, to sate my favorite beast,
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I will fling it to the ground before it with disdain!"
GrammarDouble object pronouns Two pronouns stack before the verb: «le» (it = the heart, direct object) and «lui» (to it = the beast, indirect object). The direct object precedes the indirect here, so «je le lui jetterai» = 'I will throw it to it'.
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Toward Heaven, where his eye beholds a splendid throne,
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The serene Poet lifts his pious arms
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And the vast lightning-flashes of his lucid mind
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Hide from him the sight of the raging peoples:
Worddérober = to conceal Beyond 'to steal', «dérober» means 'to hide, screen from view'. «dérober qqch. à qqn.» = 'to hide something from someone'; «lui dérobent l'aspect…» = 'hide the sight from him'. «lui» is the indirect object (from him).
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— "Be blessed, my God, who give suffering
GrammarImperative of «être» in a blessing «soyez» is the imperative of «être» (polite 'vous'). «Soyez béni» = 'Be blessed'. The title's «Bénédiction» turns here from the mother's curse to the Poet's benediction of God.
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As a divine remedy for our impurities
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And as the finest and purest essence
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That readies the strong for holy raptures!
Wordvolupté (f.) «volupté» = sensual delight, rapture. Pairing it with «saintes» ('holy') fuses the sacred and the sensual — a signature Baudelairean tension. «préparer qqn. à qqch.» = 'to make someone ready for'.
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I know that you keep a place for the Poet
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Among the blessed ranks of the holy Legions,
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And that you summon him to the eternal feast
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Of the Thrones, the Virtues, the Dominions.
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I know that suffering is the one nobility
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On which earth and the hells will never bite,
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And that, to weave my mystic crown, one must
Grammaril faut + infinitive «il faut» (from «falloir») is impersonal: 'it is necessary / one must'. With an infinitive it states a requirement: «il faut… imposer» = 'one must levy / call upon' (completed in the next line). «tresser» = to braid, weave.
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Levy every age and every universe.
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But the lost jewels of ancient Palmyra,
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The unknown metals, the pearls of the sea,
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Set by your own hand, could not suffice
Wordmonter = to set (a jewel) «monter» here is the jeweler's sense: 'to set, mount' a stone in metal. «par votre main montés» = 'set by your hand'. The past participle «montés» agrees (masculine plural) with the jewels and metals above.
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For this fair diadem, dazzling and clear;
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For it will be made of nothing but pure light,
Grammarne… que = only «ne… que» is a restrictive: 'only, nothing but'. «il ne sera fait que de pure lumière» = 'it will be made only of pure light'. Note «que», not «pas» — this limits rather than negates.
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Drawn from the holy hearth of the first rays,
Wordpuiser = to draw (from a source) «puiser» = to draw (water, light) from a source. «puisée au foyer saint» = 'drawn from the holy hearth'. The feminine «-e» agrees with «lumière» (light) in the previous line.
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And of which mortal eyes, in their fullest splendor,
GrammarThe relative «dont» «dont» = 'of which / whose', standing for «de» + a noun. It links back to «pure lumière»: the light of which mortal eyes are only dim mirrors. The clause completes in the final line.
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Are but dimmed and plaintive mirrors!"

The particulars

The text: Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire. Spleen and Ideal.
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