{"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":"horreur-sympathique","title":{"source":"Horreur sympathique","translated":"Kindred Horror"},"section":"Spleen and Ideal","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/horreur-sympathique","lines":14},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/alchimie-de-la-douleur","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/l-heautontimoroumenos","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":"horreur-sympathique-s1-l1","source":"De ce ciel bizarre et livide,","translation":"From this strange and livid sky,","stanza":1,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"livide","title":"«livide» — leaden, ashen","body":"«livide» does not mean 'vivid'; it is the bluish-grey pallor of a corpse or a bruise — 'leaden, ashen, deathly pale'. Paired with «bizarre» ('strange, uncanny'), it tints the whole sky with the colour of death, the mood the sonnet will read back into the poet's own soul."}],"words":[{"surface":"De","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking ciel","gloss":"from"},{"surface":"ce","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of ciel","gloss":"this"},{"surface":"ciel","lemma":"ciel","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"sky"},{"surface":"bizarre","lemma":"bizarre","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies ciel","gloss":"strange"},{"surface":"et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"livide","lemma":"livide","morphology":"adjective, singular","role":"coordinated with ciel","gloss":"livid"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"horreur-sympathique-s1-l2","source":"Tourmenté comme ton destin,","translation":"tormented like your own fate,","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Tourmenté","lemma":"tourmenter","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, singular","role":"modifies ciel (previous line)","gloss":"tormented"},{"surface":"comme","lemma":"comme","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking destin","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"ton","lemma":"ton","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of destin","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"destin","lemma":"destin","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Tourmenté","gloss":"fate"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"horreur-sympathique-s1-l3","source":"Quels pensers dans ton âme vide","translation":"what thoughts into your empty soul","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Quels pensers","title":"«un penser» — an archaic 'thought'","body":"«un penser» is an old, poetic noun for 'a thought' (the everyday word is «une pensée»). Baudelaire revives the archaism for its solemn ring. The question «Quels pensers… descendent?» ('What thoughts come down?') runs across this line and the next — an enjambment that leaves the soul «vide» ('empty') hanging at the line's end before the verb arrives."}],"words":[{"surface":"Quels","lemma":"quel","morphology":"adjective, masculine, plural","role":"determiner of pensers","gloss":"what"},{"surface":"pensers","lemma":"penser","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"thoughts"},{"surface":"dans","lemma":"dans","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking âme","gloss":"into"},{"surface":"ton","lemma":"ton","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of âme","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"âme","lemma":"âme","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"object of dans","gloss":"soul"},{"surface":"vide","lemma":"vide","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies âme","gloss":"empty"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"horreur-sympathique-s1-l4","source":"Descendent? réponds, libertin.","translation":"descend? answer me, libertine.","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"libertin","title":"«libertin» — freethinker, not merely a rake","body":"«libertin» carries its older, stronger sense here: a 'libertine' is not only a sensualist but a freethinker who has cast off religious and moral constraint. The poet addresses himself with «réponds» ('answer'), the familiar imperative of «répondre» — the whole sonnet is an interrogation he puts to his own godless mind."}],"words":[{"surface":"Descendent","lemma":"descendre","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence (subject: pensers, previous line)","gloss":"descend"},{"surface":"réponds","lemma":"répondre","morphology":"verb, imperative, second-person, singular","role":"imperative verb, addressed to libertin","gloss":"answer"},{"surface":"libertin","lemma":"libertin","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"vocative address","gloss":"libertine"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"horreur-sympathique-s2-l1","source":"— Insatiablement avide","translation":"— Insatiably greedy","stanza":2,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"— Insatiablement avide","title":"The «—» marks the reply","body":"The em-dash opening this stanza signals a change of speaker: the «libertin» now answers the question put to him in the first quatrain. «avide» means 'greedy, craving', and «insatiablement» ('insatiably') is the adverb that cannot be satisfied — the appetite the reply will define as a hunger «de l'obscur et de l'incertain» ('for the dark and the uncertain')."}],"words":[{"surface":"Insatiablement","lemma":"insatiablement","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies avide","gloss":"insatiably"},{"surface":"avide","lemma":"avide","morphology":"adjective, singular","role":"predicate adjective, modifies Je (next segment)","gloss":"greedy"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"horreur-sympathique-s2-l2","source":"De l'obscur et de l'incertain,","translation":"for the dark and the uncertain,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"l'obscur et l'incertain","title":"Adjectives turned into nouns with «l'»","body":"«obscur» ('dark, obscure') and «incertain» ('uncertain') are adjectives nominalized by «l'»: 'the dark', 'the uncertain' — the qualities themselves treated as things to crave. French abstracts adjectives this way far more freely than English. The «De» reaches back to «avide de» ('greedy for'): «avide de l'obscur» = 'greedy for the dark'."}],"words":[{"surface":"De","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking obscur (complement of avide)","gloss":"for"},{"surface":"l'","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of obscur","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"obscur","lemma":"obscur","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"dark"},{"surface":"et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking incertain","gloss":"for"},{"surface":"l'","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of incertain","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"incertain","lemma":"incertain","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"coordinated with obscur","gloss":"uncertain"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"horreur-sympathique-s2-l3","source":"Je ne geindrai pas comme Ovide","translation":"I will not whine as Ovid did","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Je ne geindrai pas","title":"«geindre» — to whine, to moan","body":"«geindre» is 'to whine, to groan, to moan feebly' — a complaining, self-pitying sound. «geindrai» is its future tense: 'I will not whine'. The poet refuses Ovid's lament: where the exiled Roman wept for a lost paradise, this libertine embraces his fallen, darkened sky."}],"words":[{"surface":"Je","lemma":"je","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of geindrai","gloss":"I"},{"surface":"ne","lemma":"ne","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies geindrai","gloss":"not"},{"surface":"geindrai","lemma":"geindre","morphology":"verb, future, indicative, first-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"will whine"},{"surface":"pas","lemma":"pas","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies geindrai","gloss":"not"},{"surface":"comme","lemma":"comme","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"preposition marking Ovide","gloss":"as"},{"surface":"Ovide","lemma":"Ovide","morphology":"proper noun","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"Ovid"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"horreur-sympathique-s2-l4","source":"Chassé du paradis latin.","translation":"driven out of the Latin paradise.","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Chassé","lemma":"chasser","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, singular","role":"past participle, modifies Ovide (previous line)","gloss":"driven out"},{"surface":"du","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking paradis","gloss":"from the"},{"surface":"paradis","lemma":"paradis","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of Chassé","gloss":"paradise"},{"surface":"latin","lemma":"latin","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies paradis","gloss":"Latin"}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"horreur-sympathique-s3-l1","source":"Cieux déchirés comme des grèves","translation":"Skies torn like shorelines,","stanza":3,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"des grèves","title":"«une grève» — a strand of sand and shingle","body":"«une grève» here is a 'strand, shore, shingle beach' (the same word that, by a separate history, also means a labour 'strike'). The ragged clouds are likened to a torn coastline — «déchirés» is 'torn, ripped'. The sky becomes a desolate seascape into which the poet's pride will look at itself in the next line."}],"words":[{"surface":"Cieux","lemma":"cieux","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"vocative address","gloss":"skies"},{"surface":"déchirés","lemma":"déchirer","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, plural","role":"modifies Cieux","gloss":"torn"},{"surface":"comme","lemma":"comme","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking grèves","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"des","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of grèves","gloss":"some"},{"surface":"grèves","lemma":"grève","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"modifies Cieux","gloss":"shorelines"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"horreur-sympathique-s3-l2","source":"En vous se mire mon orgueil;","translation":"in you my pride beholds itself;","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"se mire mon orgueil","title":"Pronominal «se mirer» + inversion","body":"«se mirer» is the pronominal verb 'to gaze at oneself, to be reflected' (from «un miroir», a mirror). The order inverts: «se mire» comes before its subject «mon orgueil» ('my pride') — literally 'in you reflects itself my pride'. The torn sky is a mirror, and what the poet sees in its ruin is his own pride — the «sympathie» of the title, a horror that answers his inner state."}],"words":[{"surface":"En","lemma":"en","morphology":"preposition","role":"introduces the clause of mire","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"vous","lemma":"vous","morphology":"pronoun, plural","role":"subject of mire","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"se","lemma":"se","morphology":"pronoun, reflexive","role":"reflexive particle of mire","gloss":"itself"},{"surface":"mire","lemma":"mirer","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"beholds"},{"surface":"mon","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of orgueil","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"orgueil","lemma":"orgueil","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"direct object of mire","gloss":"pride"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"horreur-sympathique-s3-l3","source":"Vos vastes nuages en deuil","translation":"your vast clouds in mourning","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Vos","lemma":"votre","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of nuages","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"vastes","lemma":"vaste","morphology":"adjective, plural","role":"modifies nuages","gloss":"vast"},{"surface":"nuages","lemma":"nuage","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"clouds"},{"surface":"en","lemma":"en","morphology":"preposition","role":"introduces the clause of deuil","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"deuil","lemma":"deuil","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"modifies nuages","gloss":"mourning"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"horreur-sympathique-s4-l1","source":"Sont les corbillards de mes rêves,","translation":"are the hearses of my dreams,","stanza":4,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"les corbillards","title":"«un corbillard» — a hearse","body":"«un corbillard» is the black funeral carriage that carries the coffin — a 'hearse'. The mourning clouds («nuages en deuil») of the line above become the hearses bearing the poet's dead dreams across the sky, completing the funeral image the «livide» sky began."}],"words":[{"surface":"Sont","lemma":"être","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"copula linking to corbillards","gloss":"are"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of corbillards","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"corbillards","lemma":"corbillard","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"hearses"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking rêves","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"mes","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of rêves","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"rêves","lemma":"rêve","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"modifies corbillards","gloss":"dreams"}]},{"number":13,"label":"13","id":"horreur-sympathique-s4-l2","source":"Et vos lueurs sont le reflet","translation":"and your gleams are the reflection","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"vos","lemma":"votre","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of lueurs","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"lueurs","lemma":"lueur","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"subject of reflet","gloss":"gleams"},{"surface":"sont","lemma":"être","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"copula linking to reflet","gloss":"are"},{"surface":"le","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of reflet","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"reflet","lemma":"reflet","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"reflection"}]},{"number":14,"label":"14","id":"horreur-sympathique-s4-l3","source":"De l'Enfer où mon coeur se plaît.","translation":"of the Hell in which my heart delights.","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"mon coeur se plaît","title":"Pronominal «se plaire» — to take pleasure","body":"«se plaire» is the pronominal verb 'to take pleasure, to delight, to be happy (in a place)'; «mon coeur se plaît» = 'my heart delights, is at home'. The relative «où» ('where, in which') makes Hell the place the heart willingly dwells. The sonnet closes on its perverse turn: the hellish glow in the sky is welcome — the horror outside answers, and pleases, the horror within."}],"words":[{"surface":"De","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking Enfer","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"l'","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of Enfer","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Enfer","lemma":"enfer","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"Hell"},{"surface":"où","lemma":"où","morphology":"adverb","role":"relative adverb, modifies plaît (in which)","gloss":"in which"},{"surface":"mon","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of coeur","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"coeur","lemma":"coeur","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"subject of plaît","gloss":"heart"},{"surface":"se","lemma":"se","morphology":"pronoun, reflexive","role":"depends on plaît","gloss":"itself"},{"surface":"plaît","lemma":"plaire","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"relative clause on Enfer","gloss":"delights","note":"se plaît is the reflexive idiom se plaire, \"to delight/take pleasure.\""}]}]}