# Je n'ai pas oublié, voisine de la ville · I have not forgotten, near the town

Les Fleurs du mal · Charles Baudelaire · Parisian Scenes

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/je-n-ai-pas-oublie-voisine-de-la-ville. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/je-n-ai-pas-oublie-voisine-de-la-ville.json.

**1** Je n'ai pas oublié, voisine de la ville,  
I have not forgotten, just outside the town,
> Passé composé in the negative: «Je n'ai pas oublié» is the passé composé of «oublier» ('to forget'), built with «avoir» + the past participle «oublié», and negated by «ne ... pas» wrapped around the auxiliary «ai». It means 'I have not forgotten' — the whole poem hangs on this single act of memory, the object of which («notre blanche maison») arrives only in the next line.
> voisin(e) de — neighboring: «voisin de» means 'next to, in the vicinity of, neighboring'; the feminine «voisine» agrees with «maison» (house). «voisine de la ville» = '(the house) close to the town' — a suburban house on the edge of the city, the kind of modest «faubourg» dwelling Baudelaire knew as a boy.

**2** Notre blanche maison, petite mais tranquille;  
Our white house, small but peaceful;

**3** Sa Pomone de plâtre et sa vieille Vénus  
Its plaster Pomona and its old Venus

**4** Dans un bosquet chétif cachant leurs membres nus,  
In a scrawny thicket hiding their naked limbs,
> Present participle «cachant»: «cachant» is the present participle of «cacher» ('to hide'), here modifying the two statues: 'hiding their naked limbs'. «chétif» means 'puny, stunted', so the «bosquet chétif» ('scrawny grove') barely screens the figures — the meager garden gives the goddesses only a thin cover.

**5** Et le soleil, le soir, ruisselant et superbe,  
And the sun, in the evening, streaming and magnificent,

**6** Qui, derrière la vitre où se brisait sa gerbe  
Which, behind the pane where its sheaf would break,
> Pronominal «se briser» in the imperfect: «se briser» is a pronominal verb meaning 'to break, to shatter (itself)'; in the imperfect «se brisait» it describes a habitual, ongoing past action: 'where its sheaf would break'. The «gerbe» is a sheaf or spray — here the fanned-out spray of sunlight that shattered against the windowpane every evening.

**7** Semblait, grand oeil ouvert dans le ciel curieux,  
Seemed, a great eye open in the curious sky,
> Appositive metaphor: «grand oeil ouvert dans le ciel curieux» stands in apposition to «le soleil» — the sun is recast, without 'like' or 'as', as 'a great eye open in the curious sky'. The verb «Semblait» ('seemed') governs the infinitive «Contempler» in the next line: the sun-eye seemed to gaze upon the family's dinners.

**8** Contempler nos dîners longs et silencieux,  
To contemplate our dinners, long and silent,

**9** Répandant largement ses beaux reflets de cierge  
Spreading wide its lovely candle-like reflections
> cierge (m.) — a church candle: A «cierge» is a tall wax candle, specifically the kind burned in churches. «ses beaux reflets de cierge» = 'its lovely candle-like glints' — the evening sun lays a soft, devotional light over the supper, as if the plain meal were lit by altar candles. «Répandant» is the present participle of «répandre», 'to spread, pour out'.

**10** Sur la nappe frugale et les rideaux de serge.  
Over the frugal tablecloth and the serge curtains.
> serge (f.) — a coarse woollen cloth: «serge» is a sturdy twilled wool, a plain and inexpensive fabric. Paired with «la nappe frugale» ('the frugal tablecloth'), the «rideaux de serge» ('serge curtains') confirm the modesty of the household — and it is precisely this humble cloth that the sun's «reflets de cierge» dignify with their golden light.

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Source text: public domain (Charles Baudelaire, d. 1867). English translation: © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC — original draft, pending editorial review.