French · Spleen and Ideal

Ciel brouillé

Overcast Sky

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1
Your gaze, one would say, is veiled with a mist;
Ononeon · pronoun, indefinite, singularsubject of dirait
diraitwould saydire · verb, conditional, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
tonyourton · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of regard
regardgazeregard · noun, masculine, singularsubject of couvert (embedded clause)
d'withde · preposition, elidedpreposition marking vapeur
uneaun · determiner, feminine, singulardeterminer of vapeur
vapeurmistvapeur · noun, feminine, singularagent/instrument of couvert
couvertveiledcouvrir · verb, past participle, masculine, singularpredicate complement, describes regard (as if dirait ton regard couvert)
Word order is inverted for the rhyme: "ton regard couvert d'une vapeur" (your gaze veiled with a mist).
Grammar«on dirait» (one would say) «On dirait» is the conditional of «dire» with the impersonal subject «on»: literally 'one would say', i.e. 'it looks like, you'd think'. It opens the poem on a note of guarded conjecture — the speaker is reading a face he cannot quite fix — and sets up the whole poem as a string of comparisons («tu rappelles», «tu ressembles»).
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Your mysterious eye (is it blue, gray, or green?)
GrammarInversion in a question «est-il…?» «est-il bleu, gris ou vert?» inverts verb and pronoun — «est-il» rather than «il est» — to form a direct question, here folded into a parenthesis. The uncertainty of the color mirrors the «ciel brouillé» of the title: the eye, like an overcast sky, will not settle into one hue.
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By turns tender, dreaming, cruel,
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reflects the indolence and the pallor of the sky.
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You recall those white days, mild and veiled,
Word«rappeler» (to call to mind) Here «rappeler» means 'to bring to mind, to be reminiscent of', not the reflexive «se rappeler» ('to remember'). «Tu rappelles ces jours blancs» = 'You call to mind those white days'. The woman is likened to overcast weather — «blancs, tièdes et voilés», pale, lukewarm, and veiled.
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that melt bewitched hearts into tears,
GrammarCausative «faire» + pronominal infinitive «font se fondre… les coeurs» is the causative «faire» + infinitive: 'make the hearts melt'. The infinitive is the pronominal «se fondre» ('to melt, dissolve'), so its reflexive «se» is kept even under «faire». Word order is inverted for the verse — read it as «(qui) font les coeurs ensorcelés se fondre en pleurs», 'which make the bewitched hearts dissolve into tears'.
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when, shaken by an unknown ill that wrings them,
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the over-wakened nerves mock the sleeping mind.
Word«railler» (to mock) «railler» = 'to mock, jeer at, taunt'. «Les nerfs trop éveillés raillent l'esprit qui dort» — the over-wakened nerves jeer at the mind that sleeps — sets raw nervous excitement against a numbed intellect, the unease beneath these languid 'white days'.
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You resemble at times those lovely horizons
Grammar«ressembler à» (to resemble) «ressembler» takes the preposition «à» before its object: «tu ressembles à ces beaux horizons» = 'you resemble those lovely horizons'. There is no direct object as in English; the thing resembled is introduced by «à». This is the third comparison in a row, after «on dirait» and «tu rappelles».
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that the suns of misty seasons set ablaze...
GrammarInverted relative «que… les soleils» «que» is the direct object of «allument», whose subject «les soleils des brumeuses saisons» follows the verb: 'that the suns of misty seasons light up'. French freely inverts subject and verb in a relative clause when the object «que» comes first — keep «les soleils» as the doer, «ces beaux horizons» as the thing set aglow.
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How you shine, rain-soaked landscape
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that the rays falling from an overcast sky set aflame!
Word«brouillé» / «un ciel brouillé» «brouillé» is the past participle of «brouiller», 'to blur, muddle, cloud over'; «un ciel brouillé» is an overcast, hazy sky. The title-phrase lands here at the volta: the woman, like a rain-soaked landscape lit by rays through cloud, is most radiant precisely when the sky is troubled.
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O dangerous woman, O seductive climates!
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Shall I adore your snow and your hoarfrosts too,
GrammarFuture + inversion «adorerai-je?» «Adorerai-je» is the future of «adorer» inverted to ask a question — 'shall I (also) adore…?'. Note the slide from «ta neige» (familiar «tu») to «vos frimas» (formal «vous») in one line: the woman and the «séduisants climats» merge, so the possessives blur between the lover and the weather she stands for. «frimas» (m. pl.) is poetic for hoarfrost, wintry rime.
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and shall I know how to draw from implacable winter
Grammar«savoir» + infinitive (know how to) «savoir» before an infinitive means 'to know how to, to be able to': «saurai-je tirer…?» = 'shall I know how to draw…?'. Again inverted as a question and parallel to «adorerai-je». The verb governs «tirer… des plaisirs» across the line break — 'draw out pleasures' from «l'implacable hiver».
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pleasures keener than ice and iron?

The particulars

The text: Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire. Spleen and Ideal.
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
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