French · Spleen and Ideal

Don Juan aux enfers

Don Juan in the Underworld

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1
When Don Juan went down toward the underground water
Quandwhenquand · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of descendit
DonDonDon · proper noun, masculine, singularpart of the name Don Juan, subject of descendit
JuanJuanJuan · proper noundepends on Don
descenditwent downdescendre · verb, past, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
verstowardvers · prepositionpreposition marking onde
l'thele · determiner, singulardeterminer of onde
ondewateronde · noun, feminine, singularoblique argument of descendit
souterraineundergroundsouterrain · adjective, feminine, singularmodifies onde
Word«l'onde souterraine» «onde» (f.) is a poetic word for water, wave, or stream — loftier than «eau». «souterrain/souterraine» means underground, subterranean. «l'onde souterraine» names the river of the dead (the Styx or Acheron), down which Don Juan is being ferried into hell.
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And when he had given his coin to Charon,
GrammarPast anterior «il eut donné» «eut donné» is the passé antérieur — the literary tense built from the passé simple of «avoir» («eut») plus a past participle. After «lorsque» ('when') it marks an action completed just before another past action: 'and when he had given…'. It pairs with «descendit» in the previous line, both literary past tenses that lend the scene its archaic, ceremonial weight.
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A grim beggar, his eye proud as Antisthenes,
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With an avenging, powerful arm seized each oar.
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Showing their hanging breasts and their open gowns,
GrammarPresent participle «Montrant» «Montrant» is the present participle of «montrer» (to show). Opening the stanza, it describes the women in the next line — 'showing their breasts…, the women writhed…'. French often front-loads such participial clauses; read on to find the subject «Des femmes» they attach to.
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Women writhed beneath the black firmament,
GrammarPronominal «se tordre» «se tordre» is the pronominal form of «tordre» (to twist, to wring); turned inward it means 'to writhe, to twist oneself'. The imperfect «se tordaient» paints an ongoing, continuous motion — the seduced women writhing without end in the background of the scene.
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And, like a great herd of offered victims,
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Behind him dragged out a long lowing cry.
Word«un mugissement» «mugissement» (m.) is the lowing or bellowing of cattle, from «mugir» (to low, to roar). Echoing «troupeau» (herd) in the line above, it turns the abandoned women into a bellowing herd of cattle — their grief reduced to animal sound that Don Juan does not deign to hear.
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Sganarelle, laughing, demanded of him his wages,
GrammarGerund «en riant» «en» + present participle is the gérondif, describing how an action is done: «en riant» = 'while laughing, laughingly'. So «Sganarelle en riant lui réclamait» means 'Sganarelle, laughing, was demanding of him'. The indirect-object pronoun «lui» ('of him / from him') is the master from whom the servant claims his pay.
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While Don Luis with a trembling finger
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Pointed out to all the dead wandering on the shores
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The insolent son who mocked his white brow.
Word«railler» «railler» means to mock, to jeer at, to make fun of (here in the passé simple, «railla»). «son front blanc» — 'his white brow' — stands by metonymy for the father's old age and dignity; Don Luis is the father Don Juan scorned, now pointing him out among the dead.
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Shivering in her mourning, chaste and gaunt Elvira,
GrammarPresent participle «Frissonnant» «Frissonnant» is the present participle of «frissonner» (to shiver, to shudder). Like «Montrant» earlier, it opens the stanza and modifies the subject that follows — «Elvire». «son deuil» means 'her mourning' (the grief, and the black mourning dress, of a widow).
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Close to the faithless husband who had been her lover,
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Seemed to beg of him one last smile
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In which the sweetness of his first vow might shine.
GrammarImperfect subjunctive «brillât» «brillât» is the imperfect subjunctive of «briller» (to shine), recognizable by the circumflex on the «-ât» ending. The subjunctive appears because the smile is only wished-for, not real: Elvira begs a smile 'in which' the old tenderness might shine. This literary tense matches the poem's elevated, archaic register.
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Bolt upright in his armor, a great man of stone
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Held the helm and cut through the black water;
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But the calm hero, bent over his rapier,
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Gazed at the wake and did not deign to see a thing.
Word«daigner» + infinitive «daigner» means 'to deign, to condescend' and takes a bare infinitive: «daignait rien voir» = 'deigned to see nothing'. The negation «ne … rien» wraps the verb. The final image is Don Juan's whole character — supremely indifferent, refusing to so much as glance at the victims and judges crowding around him.

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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