French · Flowers of Evil

Femmes damnées (Comme un bétail pensif)

Damned Women (Like a Pensive Herd)

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1
Like a pensive herd lying upon the sand,
Commelikecomme · prepositionpreposition marking bétail
unaun · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of bétail
bétailherdbétail · noun, masculine, singularobject of Comme
pensifpensivepensif · adjective, masculine, singularmodifies bétail
suruponsur · prepositionpreposition marking sable
lethele · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of sable
sablesandsable · noun, masculine, singularobject of sur, locative complement of couchées
couchéeslyingcoucher · verb, past, participle, feminine, pluralparticiple describing the subject (Elles, next line)
Word«un bétail» «bétail» (m.) is livestock, a herd of cattle — a deliberately animal, grazing image for the women. The past participle «couchées» (from «coucher», to lay down) is feminine plural, agreeing with the «Elles» that opens the next line — the participial phrase anticipates its subject, so the herd is unmistakably the women themselves.
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They turn their eyes toward the horizon of the seas,
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And their feet seeking each other and their hands drawn close
GrammarReciprocal «se cherchant» «se chercher» here is reciprocal rather than reflexive: the plural «se» means 'each other', so «leurs pieds se cherchant» is 'their feet seeking one another'. «cherchant» is the present participle of «chercher» (to seek). The reciprocal pronoun quietly makes the gesture mutual — a touch between two bodies, not one.
4
Have soft languors and bitter shudders.
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Some, hearts enamored of long confidences,
Word«épris de» «épris» is the past participle of the literary verb «s'éprendre» (to fall in love), used as an adjective: 'enamored of, taken with'. It governs «de» before its object: «épris des longues confidences» = 'enamored of long, intimate exchanges'. «Les unes ... d'autres ...» across the stanzas means 'some ... others ...', sorting the women into types.
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In the depths of the groves where the brooks chatter,
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Go spelling out the love of timid childhoods
Grammar«aller» + present participle «aller» followed by a present participle is an old, literary construction expressing a continuous, drawn-out action: «vont épelant» = 'go on spelling out, keep slowly spelling out'. «épeler» literally means to spell a word letter by letter, so the women painstakingly sound out a love that belongs to «craintives enfances», timid childhoods.
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And carve into the green wood of young saplings;
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Others, like sisters, walk slow and grave
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Across the rocks full of apparitions,
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Where Saint Anthony saw rise up like lava
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The bare, crimsoned breasts of his temptations;
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There are some, by the glow of crumbling resin-torches,
Grammar«il en est» = 'there are some' «il en est» is a literary, impersonal turn meaning 'there are some (of them)' — equivalent to «il y en a». The «en» stands in for 'of these women'. It mirrors the «les unes ... d'autres ... il en est ... et d'autres» catalogue threading the poem, each phrase introducing another kind of damned woman.
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Who in the mute hollow of old pagan caverns
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Call on you to the rescue of their howling fevers,
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O Bacchus, luller of ancient remorse!
Word«Bacchus, endormeur» Bacchus is the Roman god of wine and ecstatic abandon, invoked here in the vocative «Ô Bacchus». «endormeur» is an agent noun coined from «endormir» (to put to sleep, to lull): the 'luller / souther' of «remords anciens», old remorse — wine that drowns guilt. The «t'» of the previous line addresses him directly.
17
And others, whose breast loves the scapulars,
Word«les scapulaires» A «scapulaire» is a scapular — two small cloth squares joined by cords and worn against the chest as a Catholic devotional. That the «gorge» (breast, throat) 'loves' it sets piety directly on the skin, so the next lines' hidden whip («un fouet») turns devotion into penitential pleasure.
18
Who, hiding a whip beneath their long garments,
Word«recéler» «recéler» means to conceal, to harbor — often with the legal nuance of hiding stolen or illicit goods. The present participle «recélant un fouet» ('concealing a whip') makes the hidden object faintly criminal, smuggled under the «longs vêtements». «un fouet» is a whip, the instrument of the flagellant blending pain and devotion.
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Mingle, in the dark wood and the solitary nights,
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The foam of pleasure with the tears of torments.
Grammar«mêler qqch. à qqch.» «mêler A à B» means 'to mingle A with B'; the second element takes «à» (here contracted to «aux larmes»). So «mêlent l'écume du plaisir aux larmes des tourments» = 'mingle the foam of pleasure with the tears of torments'. The verb «mêlent» governs the whole sentence across the line break from «Mêlent» (s5-l3).
21
O virgins, O demons, O monsters, O martyrs,
22
Great spirits scornful of reality,
Word«contempteurs» and the inversion «contempteur» is a rare, elevated noun (from Latin «contemptor») meaning a despiser or scorner. The phrase inverts normal order — literally 'of reality great spirits scorners' — so «de la réalité» belongs to «contempteurs»: 'great spirits, scorners of reality'. Verse routinely fronts the complement like this for rhythm and rhyme.
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Seekers of the infinite, devout women and satyrs,
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Now full of cries, now full of tears,
Grammar«tantôt ... tantôt» The paired adverb «tantôt ... tantôt» means 'now ... now / sometimes ... sometimes', marking alternation between two states. Here it swings the women between «cris» (cries, screams) and «pleurs» (weeping). «pleurs» is a literary plural noun for tears/weeping, distinct from the verb «pleurer».
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You whom my soul has pursued into your hell,
GrammarPast-participle agreement with «que» In the passé composé with «avoir», the participle agrees with a direct object that comes before it. The object pronoun «que» (= «vous», the women) precedes «a poursuivies», so the participle takes the feminine plural «-ies»: «mon âme a poursuivies» = 'my soul has pursued [them]'. The fronted «Vous que...» sets up the poet's final address.
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Poor sisters, I love you as much as I pity you,
Word«plaindre» «plaindre quelqu'un» is 'to pity someone, to feel sorry for them'; «je vous plains» = 'I pity you'. The «autant que» ('as much as') balances it against «je vous aime», 'I love you' — the poem's closing equation of love and pity. Do not confuse it with the pronominal «se plaindre» ('to complain').
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For your dreary sorrows, your unslaked thirsts,
Word«inassouvi» «inassouvi» means unsatisfied, unslaked, never sated — from «assouvir» (to satisfy a hunger or thirst) with the negating prefix «in-». «vos soifs inassouvies» = 'your thirsts that can never be quenched', the perpetual craving that defines the damned. «morne» (dreary, bleak, dull) colors «douleurs» with the same exhausted gloom.
28
And the urns of love with which your great hearts are full.
Grammar«dont» with «plein de» «plein de» means 'full of', and «dont» is the relative pronoun standing in for «de + antecedent». So «les urnes d'amour dont vos grands coeurs sont pleins» = 'the urns of love with which your great hearts are full'. «dont» neatly absorbs the «de» that «plein» requires — a single relative carrying the whole 'full of' construction.

The particulars

The text: Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire. Flowers of Evil.
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
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