{"work":{"slug":"baudelaire","title":{"source":"Les Fleurs du mal","translated":"The Flowers of Evil"},"author":"Charles Baudelaire","language":"French","languageCode":"fr","url":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire"},"unit":{"kind":"poem","number":null,"id":"causerie","title":{"source":"Causerie","translated":"Conversation"},"section":"Spleen and Ideal","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/causerie","lines":14},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/l-irreparable","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/chant-d-automne","license":"Source text: public domain (Charles Baudelaire, d. 1867). English translation: © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC — original draft, pending editorial review.","audioBase":null,"lines":[{"number":1,"label":"1","id":"causerie-s1-l1","source":"Vous êtes un beau ciel d'automne, clair et rose!","translation":"You are a lovely autumn sky, clear and rose!","stanza":1,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Vous êtes","title":"The distancing «vous»","body":"«vous» is the formal 'you', used here for a single woman the poet desires — not intimacy but a held distance. The poem will slip between this cool «vous» and a sudden «tu» («Ta main», stanza two) and back again, tracking how the lover is drawn close and then pushed away. «un beau ciel d'automne» = 'a beautiful autumn sky': beautiful, but already turning toward its end."}],"words":[{"surface":"Vous","lemma":"vous","morphology":"pronoun, second-person, plural (formal singular)","role":"subject of ciel","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"êtes","lemma":"être","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, second-person, plural","role":"copula linking to ciel","gloss":"are"},{"surface":"un","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of ciel","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"beau","lemma":"beau","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies ciel","gloss":"lovely"},{"surface":"ciel","lemma":"ciel","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"predicate of êtes","gloss":"sky"},{"surface":"d'","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking automne","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"automne","lemma":"automne","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"modifies ciel","gloss":"autumn"},{"surface":"clair","lemma":"clair","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies ciel","gloss":"clear"},{"surface":"et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"rose","lemma":"rose","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"coordinated with clair","gloss":"rose"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"causerie-s1-l2","source":"Mais la tristesse en moi monte comme la mer,","translation":"But the sadness in me rises like the sea,","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Mais","lemma":"mais","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"but"},{"surface":"la","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of tristesse","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"tristesse","lemma":"tristesse","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"subject of monte","gloss":"sadness"},{"surface":"en","lemma":"en","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking moi","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"moi","lemma":"moi","morphology":"pronoun, first-person, singular","role":"modifies tristesse","gloss":"me"},{"surface":"monte","lemma":"monter","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"rises"},{"surface":"comme","lemma":"comme","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking mer","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"la","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of mer","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"mer","lemma":"mer","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"oblique argument of monte","gloss":"sea"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"causerie-s1-l3","source":"Et laisse, en refluant, sur ma lèvre morose","translation":"and leaves, as it ebbs back, on my sullen lip","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"en refluant","title":"«en» + present participle (the gerund)","body":"«en refluant» = 'while ebbing, as it flows back out'. «en» + a present participle is the French gerund, naming the manner or moment of an action; «refluer» = 'to ebb, to flow back' (the tide going out). So the sadness rises like the sea (line 2) and, draining away again, leaves its bitter residue behind. «morose» = 'sullen, gloomy'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"laisse","lemma":"laisser","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"leaves"},{"surface":"en","lemma":"en","morphology":"preposition","role":"introduces the clause of refluant","gloss":"as it"},{"surface":"refluant","lemma":"refluer","morphology":"verb, present, participle","role":"adverbial clause on laisse","gloss":"ebbs back"},{"surface":"sur","lemma":"sur","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking lèvre","gloss":"on"},{"surface":"ma","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of lèvre","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"lèvre","lemma":"lèvre","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"oblique argument of laisse","gloss":"lip"},{"surface":"morose","lemma":"morose","morphology":"adjective, feminine, singular","role":"modifies lèvre","gloss":"sullen"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"causerie-s1-l4","source":"Le souvenir cuisant de son limon amer.","translation":"the smarting memory of its bitter slime.","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"le souvenir cuisant… son limon amer","title":"«cuisant» and «limon»","body":"«cuisant» (from «cuire», 'to cook, to burn') = 'stinging, smarting, raw' — the kind of pain that burns. «le limon» is the silt or slimy mud a tide leaves on the shore. The image completes the sea-metaphor: the ebb of sadness deposits, on the poet's lip, a memory that burns like the bitter mud left by retreating water."}],"words":[{"surface":"Le","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of souvenir","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"souvenir","lemma":"souvenir","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"direct object of laisse (prior line)","gloss":"memory"},{"surface":"cuisant","lemma":"cuire","morphology":"verb, present, participle used as adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies souvenir","gloss":"smarting"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking limon","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"son","lemma":"son","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of limon","gloss":"its"},{"surface":"limon","lemma":"limon","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of souvenir","gloss":"slime"},{"surface":"amer","lemma":"amer","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies limon","gloss":"bitter"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"causerie-s2-l1","source":"— Ta main se glisse en vain sur mon sein qui se pâme;","translation":"— Your hand slides in vain over my swooning breast;","stanza":2,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"se glisse… qui se pâme","title":"Two pronominal verbs: «se glisser», «se pâmer»","body":"Both verbs are pronominal, the «se» turning the action back on the subject. «se glisser» = 'to slip, to slide oneself' (the hand glides of its own accord); «se pâmer» = 'to swoon, to faint with feeling'. The dash and the sudden «Ta» ('your', familiar «tu») break the formal «vous» of the first quatrain — the woman has moved close, and her hand caresses a breast that swoons even as the caress is «en vain», 'in vain'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Ta","lemma":"ton","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of main","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"main","lemma":"main","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"subject of glisse","gloss":"hand"},{"surface":"glisse","lemma":"glisser","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"slides"},{"surface":"en","lemma":"en","morphology":"preposition","role":"part of the phrase en vain","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"vain","lemma":"vain","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"part of the phrase en vain, modifies glisse","gloss":"vain"},{"surface":"sur","lemma":"sur","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking sein","gloss":"over"},{"surface":"mon","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of sein","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"sein","lemma":"sein","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of glisse","gloss":"breast"},{"surface":"qui","lemma":"qui","morphology":"pronoun","role":"subject of pâme","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"pâme","lemma":"pâmer","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"relative clause on sein","gloss":"swoons"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"causerie-s2-l2","source":"Ce qu'elle cherche, amie, est un lieu saccagé","translation":"what it seeks, dear, is a ravaged place","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"un lieu saccagé","title":"saccager","body":"«saccager» = 'to ransack, to lay waste, to plunder' — the sacking of a city. «un lieu saccagé» = 'a plundered, ravaged place'. The hand searches the poet's chest for a heart and finds only ruins, looted ground; the next two lines name who did the looting."}],"words":[{"surface":"Ce","lemma":"ce","morphology":"pronoun","role":"antecedent of the relative qu'elle cherche","gloss":"what"},{"surface":"elle","lemma":"elle","morphology":"pronoun, feminine, singular","role":"subject of cherche","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"cherche","lemma":"chercher","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"relative clause on Ce","gloss":"seeks"},{"surface":"amie","lemma":"amie","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"vocative, addressee","gloss":"dear"},{"surface":"est","lemma":"être","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"copula linking Ce to lieu","gloss":"is"},{"surface":"un","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of lieu","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"lieu","lemma":"lieu","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"predicate of est","gloss":"place"},{"surface":"saccagé","lemma":"saccager","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, singular","role":"modifies lieu","gloss":"ravaged"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"causerie-s2-l3","source":"Par la griffe et la dent féroce de la femme.","translation":"by the claw and the savage tooth of woman.","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Par","lemma":"par","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking griffe","gloss":"by"},{"surface":"la","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of griffe","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"griffe","lemma":"griffe","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"oblique argument of saccagé (prior line)","gloss":"claw"},{"surface":"et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"la","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of dent","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"dent","lemma":"dent","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"coordinated with griffe","gloss":"tooth"},{"surface":"féroce","lemma":"féroce","morphology":"adjective, feminine, singular","role":"modifies dent","gloss":"savage"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking femme","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"la","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of femme","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"femme","lemma":"femme","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"modifies dent","gloss":"woman"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"causerie-s2-l4","source":"Ne cherchez plus mon coeur; les bêtes l'ont mangé.","translation":"Seek my heart no longer; the beasts have eaten it.","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Ne cherchez plus… vous","title":"«ne… plus» + the return to «vous»","body":"«ne… plus» = 'no longer, not anymore'; «ne cherchez plus» = 'seek no more'. Note the swerve: after the intimate «Ta main» the poet snaps back to the formal imperative «cherchez» (the «vous» form), pushing her away again. «les bêtes» (the beasts of the previous line, woman's claw and tooth) «l'ont mangé» = 'have eaten it' — the heart is already devoured."}],"words":[{"surface":"cherchez","lemma":"chercher","morphology":"verb, imperative, second-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"seek"},{"surface":"plus","lemma":"plus","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies cherchez, part of ne...plus","gloss":"no longer"},{"surface":"mon","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of coeur","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"coeur","lemma":"coeur","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"direct object of cherchez","gloss":"heart"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, plural","role":"determiner of bêtes","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"bêtes","lemma":"bête","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"subject of mangé","gloss":"beasts"},{"surface":"l'","lemma":"le","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"direct object of mangé","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"ont","lemma":"avoir","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"depends on mangé","gloss":"have"},{"surface":"mangé","lemma":"manger","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"eaten"}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"causerie-s3-l1","source":"Mon coeur est un palais flétri par la cohue;","translation":"My heart is a palace withered by the mob;","stanza":3,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"flétri par la cohue","title":"«flétrir» and «la cohue»","body":"«flétrir» = 'to wither, to wilt' (a flower) and, figuratively, 'to defile, to dishonour'. «la cohue» = 'the crowd, the rabble, the crush'. The heart is a once-grand palace that a trampling mob has both worn out and disgraced — the public, profaned space the rest of the tercet describes."}],"words":[{"surface":"Mon","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of coeur","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"coeur","lemma":"coeur","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"subject of est","gloss":"heart"},{"surface":"est","lemma":"être","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"copula linking to palais","gloss":"is"},{"surface":"un","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of palais","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"palais","lemma":"palais","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"predicate of est","gloss":"palace"},{"surface":"flétri","lemma":"flétrir","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, singular","role":"modifies palais","gloss":"withered"},{"surface":"par","lemma":"par","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking cohue","gloss":"by"},{"surface":"la","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of cohue","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"cohue","lemma":"cohue","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"agent of flétri","gloss":"mob"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"causerie-s3-l2","source":"On s'y soûle, on s'y tue, on s'y prend aux cheveux!","translation":"There they get drunk, kill each other, tear at each other's hair!","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"On s'y soûle, on s'y tue, on s'y prend aux cheveux","title":"Impersonal «on» + «y» + reflexive/reciprocal verbs","body":"«on» is the indefinite 'one / people / they', and «y» = 'there' (in the palace-heart). Each verb is pronominal: «se soûler» = 'to get drunk', «se tuer» = 'to kill oneself / one another', «se prendre aux cheveux» = an idiom, literally 'to take one another by the hair', i.e. 'to come to blows, to brawl'. The tripled «on s'y…» piles up the chaos in the ruined palace."}],"words":[{"surface":"On","lemma":"on","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of soûle","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"y","lemma":"y","morphology":"pronoun","role":"adverbial of place, depends on soûle","gloss":"there"},{"surface":"soûle","lemma":"soûler","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"first coordinated verb","gloss":"get drunk"},{"surface":"on","lemma":"on","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of tue","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"y","lemma":"y","morphology":"pronoun","role":"adverbial of place, depends on tue","gloss":"there"},{"surface":"tue","lemma":"tuer","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"coordinated with soûle","gloss":"kill each other"},{"surface":"on","lemma":"on","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of prend","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"y","lemma":"y","morphology":"pronoun","role":"adverbial of place, depends on prend","gloss":"there"},{"surface":"prend","lemma":"prendre","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"coordinated with soûle and tue","gloss":"tear at each other's"},{"surface":"aux","lemma":"à","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking cheveux","gloss":"by"},{"surface":"cheveux","lemma":"cheveu","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"oblique argument of prend","gloss":"hair"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"causerie-s3-l3","source":"— Un parfum nage autour de votre gorge nue!...","translation":"— A perfume floats around your bare throat!...","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"votre gorge nue","title":"«gorge» — throat, but also breast","body":"«la gorge» literally means 'throat', but in older and poetic French it commonly denotes a woman's bosom or breast. «votre gorge nue» = 'your bare throat / bare breast'. The dash again cuts the poet off from his own despair — mid-ruin, his attention drifts back to the woman's perfumed flesh, and «votre» restores the distancing «vous»."}],"words":[{"surface":"Un","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of parfum","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"parfum","lemma":"parfum","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"subject of nage","gloss":"perfume"},{"surface":"nage","lemma":"nager","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"floats"},{"surface":"autour","lemma":"autour","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies nage, part of the phrase autour de","gloss":"around"},{"surface":"votre","lemma":"votre","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of gorge","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"gorge","lemma":"gorge","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"oblique argument of nage","gloss":"throat"},{"surface":"nue","lemma":"nu","morphology":"adjective, feminine, singular","role":"modifies gorge","gloss":"bare"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"causerie-s4-l1","source":"Ô Beauté, dur fléau des âmes, tu le veux!","translation":"O Beauty, harsh scourge of souls, you will it so!","stanza":4,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"dur fléau des âmes","title":"«fléau» — flail, then scourge","body":"«un fléau» is first the flail used to thresh grain, and from there 'a scourge, a plague, a calamity'. «dur fléau des âmes» = 'harsh scourge of souls'. The poet now turns from the woman to address «Beauté» itself, personified and capitalized — and the «tu» here is no longer the lover but Beauty, sovereign and cruel: «tu le veux» = 'you will it', you want it this way."}],"words":[{"surface":"Ô","lemma":"ô","morphology":"interjection","role":"introduces the vocative Beauté","gloss":"O"},{"surface":"Beauté","lemma":"beauté","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"vocative, addressee of veux","gloss":"Beauty"},{"surface":"dur","lemma":"dur","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies fléau","gloss":"harsh"},{"surface":"fléau","lemma":"fléau","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"in apposition to Beauté","gloss":"scourge"},{"surface":"des","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking âmes","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"âmes","lemma":"âme","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"modifies fléau","gloss":"souls"},{"surface":"tu","lemma":"tu","morphology":"pronoun, second-person, singular","role":"subject of veux","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"le","lemma":"le","morphology":"pronoun, masculine, singular","role":"direct object of veux","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"veux","lemma":"vouloir","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, second-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"will"}]},{"number":13,"label":"13","id":"causerie-s4-l2","source":"Avec tes yeux de feu, brillants comme des fêtes,","translation":"With your eyes of fire, blazing like festivals,","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Avec","lemma":"avec","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking yeux","gloss":"with"},{"surface":"tes","lemma":"ton","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of yeux","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"yeux","lemma":"oeil","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"oblique argument of veux (prior line)","gloss":"eyes"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking feu","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"feu","lemma":"feu","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"modifies yeux","gloss":"fire"},{"surface":"brillants","lemma":"brillant","morphology":"adjective, masculine, plural","role":"modifies yeux","gloss":"blazing"},{"surface":"comme","lemma":"comme","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking fêtes","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"fêtes","lemma":"fête","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"object of comparison with yeux","gloss":"festivals"}]},{"number":14,"label":"14","id":"causerie-s4-l3","source":"Calcine ces lambeaux qu'ont épargnés les bêtes!","translation":"burn to ash these scraps the beasts have spared!","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Calcine ces lambeaux qu'ont épargnés les bêtes","title":"Imperative «calcine» + past-participle agreement and inversion","body":"«calcine» is the imperative of «calciner», 'to burn to ash, to char', commanding Beauty to finish what the beasts began. «les lambeaux» = 'shreds, tatters' — the scraps of the heart left over. In the relative clause «qu'ont épargnés les bêtes», the subject «les bêtes» is inverted after the verb, and the participle «épargnés» takes a plural -s agreeing with the preceding object «qu'» (= «ces lambeaux»): 'these scraps that the beasts have spared'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Calcine","lemma":"calciner","morphology":"verb, present, imperative, second-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"burn to ash","note":"Imperative of calciner, not a proper noun."},{"surface":"ces","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of lambeaux","gloss":"these"},{"surface":"lambeaux","lemma":"lambeau","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"direct object of Calcine","gloss":"scraps"},{"surface":"qu'","lemma":"que","morphology":"pronoun","role":"direct object of épargnés","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"ont","lemma":"avoir","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"depends on épargnés","gloss":"have"},{"surface":"épargnés","lemma":"épargner","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, plural","role":"relative clause on lambeaux","gloss":"spared"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of bêtes","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"bêtes","lemma":"bête","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"subject of épargnés","gloss":"beasts"}]}]}