French · Parisian Scenes

L'Amour du mensonge

The Love of the Lie

24 lines · 18 notes

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1
When I see you pass by, O my dear indolent one,
Quandwhenquand · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of vois
jeIje · pronoun, singularsubject of vois
teyoute · pronoun, second-person, singulardirect object of vois
voisseevoir · verb, present, indicative, first-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
passerpass bypasser · verb, infinitivecomplement of vois
ôOô · interjectionintroduces the vocative phrase
mamymon · determiner, feminine, singulardeterminer of chère
chèredearcher · adjective used as noun, feminine, singularhead of the vocative phrase
indolenteindolentindolent · adjective, feminine, singularmodifies chère
Wordindolent(e) «indolent(e)» means 'languid, listless, free of pain or care', from Latin «indolens». Here it is an affectionate address — «ma chère indolente», 'my dear languid one' — naming the woman by her slow, untroubled grace, the «allure harmonieuse et lente» of the next stanza.
2
To the song of the instruments that breaks against the ceiling
GrammarPronominal verb «se briser» «se briser» is the pronominal form of «briser», 'to break', used here intransitively: 'to break, to shatter' on its own. The music «se brise au plafond» — breaks against the ceiling like a wave — so the relative clause «qui se brise» describes the «chant des instruments» dispersing overhead.
3
Suspending your bearing, harmonious and slow,
4
And parading the weariness of your deep gaze;
Wordpromener; l'ennui «promener» is literally 'to walk, to take for a stroll'; «promener l'ennui de ton regard» = 'to parade / carry about the boredom of your gaze'. «l'ennui» is the heavy Baudelairean weariness, here worn and displayed like the woman herself — the present participle «promenant» links it to «Suspendant» in the line above.
5
When I gaze, by the gaslight that tints it,
6
Your pale brow, made lovelier by a morbid charm,
Wordembellir; morbide; l'attrait «embellir» is 'to make beautiful, to embellish'; the past participle «embelli» agrees with «ton front» (masculine). «un morbide attrait» = 'a morbid attraction / charm'. The brow is beautified not in spite of but by something sickly — a key Baudelairean paradox, beauty heightened by decay.
7
Where the evening's torches kindle a dawn,
8
And your eyes, alluring like those of a portrait,
GrammarDemonstrative pronoun «ceux» «ceux» is the masculine plural demonstrative pronoun, standing in for «les yeux» so it need not be repeated: «tes yeux... comme ceux d'un portrait» = 'your eyes... like those of a portrait'. The comparison is already the poem's warning — her eyes are as beautiful, and as empty of life, as those painted on a canvas.
9
I say to myself: How beautiful she is! and strangely fresh!
GrammarReflexive «se dire» «se dire» is the reflexive of «dire», 'to say (to oneself)': «je me dis» = 'I say to myself, I think'. The reflexive pronoun «me» marks the speech as inward — the poet's private admiration — and «Qu'elle est belle!» is the exclamative «que» + adjective, 'how beautiful she is!'.
10
Memory, massive, a royal and heavy tower,
Wordle souvenir; la tour «le souvenir» is 'memory, remembrance'; «la tour» is a tower (feminine). The memory she carries is imagined as a «royale et lourde tour» — a royal, heavy tower — crowning her: a weight of the past that makes her seem ripe, «mûr... pour le savant amour», ready for a knowing, practiced love.
11
Crowns her, and her heart, bruised like a peach,
12
Is ripe, like her body, for the knowing love.
Wordsavant; mûr «savant» means 'learned, skilled, expert', not 'savant' in the English sense; «le savant amour» = 'knowing, practised love'. «mûr» is 'ripe'. Heart and body alike are «mûr... pour le savant amour» — ripened by suffering and memory for a love that is experienced rather than innocent.
13
Are you the autumn fruit of sovereign savors?
GrammarInversion in questions «Es-tu» «Es-tu» inverts subject and verb («tu es» → «es-tu») to ask a direct question: 'Are you...?'. This stanza is a chain of such inverted questions — «Es-tu le fruit...? Es-tu vase funèbre...?» — heaping up images the poet projects onto a woman who answers none of them.
14
Are you a funeral urn awaiting a few tears,
Wordle vase; funèbre; les pleurs «un vase funèbre» is a funerary urn or vessel; «funèbre» means 'funereal, of death'. «les pleurs» (always plural here) are tears. The woman may be only an empty urn «attendant quelques pleurs» — waiting to be filled with someone else's grief — one more guess at what, if anything, lies behind her beauty.
15
A perfume that sets one dreaming of far oases,
GrammarCausative «faire» + infinitive «faire» + infinitive is the causative, 'to make / cause (someone) to do': «un parfum qui fait rêver» = 'a perfume that makes [one] dream'. «rêver à» means 'to dream of'. The scent causes a dreaming of «oasis lointaines», distant oases — a far-off mirage, fitting for a poem about loving an illusion.
16
A caressing pillow, or a basket of flowers?
17
I know there are eyes, of the most melancholy,
GrammarLiterary «il est» = «il y a» «il est» here is the elevated, literary equivalent of «il y a», 'there is / there are': «il est des yeux» = 'there are eyes'. «des plus mélancoliques» is the idiomatic superlative meaning 'of the most melancholy kind / among the most melancholy', in which «des» (= de + les) stays intact — there is no partitive des→de reduction; a learned register suiting the poet's worldly confession.
18
That conceal no precious secrets at all;
Wordreceler; ne... point «receler» is 'to conceal, to harbour, to hold hidden away' (also 'to receive stolen goods'). «ne... point» is an emphatic, literary 'not at all', stronger than «ne... pas». So «ne recèlent point de secrets précieux» = 'hide no precious secrets whatever' — the beautiful, sad eyes may contain nothing at all.
19
Fair jewel-cases without jewels, lockets without relics,
Wordl'écrin; le médaillon; la relique «un écrin» is a case made to hold jewels; «un médaillon» is a locket; «une relique» is a relic, a treasured keepsake. The images are all beautiful containers gone empty — «écrins sans joyaux» (cases without jewels), «médaillons sans reliques» — exactly the woman the poem fears: lovely surface, hollow within.
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Emptier, deeper than you yourselves, O Heavens!
21
But is it not enough that you be the appearance,
GrammarSubjunctive «sois» after «suffire que» «sois» is the present subjunctive of «être», 'to be'. The impersonal «il suffit que» ('it is enough that') triggers the subjunctive in its clause: «ne suffit-il pas que tu sois l'apparence» = 'is it not enough that you be the appearance?'. The poet asks for nothing but the surface.
22
To gladden a heart that flees the truth?
Wordfuir; la vérité «fuir» is 'to flee, to run from' (and can take a direct object: «fuir la vérité» = 'to flee the truth'). «réjouir» is 'to gladden, to delight'. This is the poem's confession: the heart it speaks for is one «qui fuit la vérité», that runs from the truth — content to be charmed by the lovely lie.
23
What does your stupidity or your indifference matter?
GrammarImpersonal «qu'importe» «qu'importe» is a fixed impersonal turn, «que» + «importer» ('to matter'): 'what does it matter, never mind'. «Qu'importe ta bêtise ou ton indifférence?» = 'What do your stupidity or indifference matter?' — the speaker waves away her emptiness, asking only for the beautiful mask.
24
Mask or stage-set, I salute you! I adore your beauty.
Wordle masque; le décor; salut «le masque» is a mask; «le décor» is the painted scenery or stage-set, a façade. «salut!» is a greeting or a hail — here a toast, 'hail! / I salute you!'. The poem ends by openly worshipping the surface: mask or backdrop, real or not, «J'adore ta beauté» — I adore your beauty all the same.

The particulars

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