{"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":"l-ideal","title":{"source":"L'Idéal","translated":"The Ideal"},"section":"Spleen and Ideal","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/l-ideal","lines":14},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/la-beaute","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/la-geante","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":"l-ideal-s1-l1","source":"Ce ne seront jamais ces beautés de vignettes,","translation":"It will never be these pretty-picture beauties,","stanza":1,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"ces beautés de vignettes","title":"«une vignette» — a fashion-plate","body":"«une vignette» is a small printed illustration — here the dainty figures of fashion magazines and keepsake albums. «ces beautés de vignettes» are 'these vignette beauties', the prettified, mass-produced charms the poet rejects in favour of his «rouge idéal». The plural «ce ne seront jamais» throws the whole stanza forward to its true subject in line 4: the women who will never satisfy a heart like his."}],"words":[{"surface":"Ce","lemma":"ce","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of seront","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"ne","lemma":"ne","morphology":"adverb, negation","role":"negates seront (with jamais)","gloss":"[negation]"},{"surface":"seront","lemma":"être","morphology":"verb, future, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"copula linking Ce to beautés","gloss":"will be"},{"surface":"jamais","lemma":"jamais","morphology":"adverb","role":"negates seront (with ne)","gloss":"never"},{"surface":"ces","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, feminine, plural","role":"determiner of beautés","gloss":"these"},{"surface":"beautés","lemma":"beauté","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"predicate complement of seront","gloss":"beauties"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking vignettes","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"vignettes","lemma":"vignette","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"modifies beautés","gloss":"pretty pictures","note":"\"beautés de vignettes\" = picture-book/chocolate-box prettiness."}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"l-ideal-s1-l2","source":"Produits avariés, nés d'un siècle vaurien,","translation":"Spoiled goods, born of a worthless age,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Produits avariés","title":"«avarié» — spoiled, gone off","body":"«avarié» is said of food or cargo that has rotted or spoiled in transit. Calling these fashionable beauties «produits avariés» — 'damaged goods' — treats them as merchandise that has gone bad, the cheap output («produits») of «un siècle vaurien», a good-for-nothing century."}],"words":[{"surface":"Produits","lemma":"produit","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"in apposition to beautés (previous line)","gloss":"Products"},{"surface":"avariés","lemma":"avarié","morphology":"adjective, masculine, plural","role":"modifies Produits","gloss":"spoiled"},{"surface":"nés","lemma":"naître","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, plural","role":"modifies Produits","gloss":"born"},{"surface":"d'","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking siècle","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"un","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of siècle","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"siècle","lemma":"siècle","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of nés","gloss":"age"},{"surface":"vaurien","lemma":"vaurien","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies siècle","gloss":"worthless"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"l-ideal-s1-l3","source":"Ces pieds à brodequins, ces doigts à castagnettes,","translation":"These feet in laced boots, these fingers at castanets,","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Ces","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, masculine, plural","role":"determiner of pieds","gloss":"These"},{"surface":"pieds","lemma":"pied","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"in apposition to beautés (line 1)","gloss":"feet"},{"surface":"à","lemma":"à","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking brodequins","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"brodequins","lemma":"brodequin","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"modifies pieds","gloss":"laced boots"},{"surface":"ces","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, masculine, plural","role":"determiner of doigts","gloss":"these"},{"surface":"doigts","lemma":"doigt","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"coordinated with pieds","gloss":"fingers"},{"surface":"à","lemma":"à","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking castagnettes","gloss":"at"},{"surface":"castagnettes","lemma":"castagnette","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"modifies doigts","gloss":"castanets"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"l-ideal-s1-l4","source":"Qui sauront satisfaire un coeur comme le mien.","translation":"That could ever satisfy a heart like mine.","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Qui sauront satisfaire","title":"«savoir» + infinitive — to be able to","body":"«savoir» before an infinitive means 'to know how to', and so 'to be able to, to manage to'. The future «qui sauront satisfaire» — 'who will know how to satisfy' — completes the long negation begun in line 1: «ce ne seront jamais ces beautés… qui sauront satisfaire un coeur comme le mien», 'it will never be these beauties who could satisfy a heart like mine.'"}],"words":[{"surface":"Qui","lemma":"qui","morphology":"relative pronoun","role":"subject of sauront, refers to pieds/doigts","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"sauront","lemma":"savoir","morphology":"verb, future, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"relative clause on pieds/doigts","gloss":"will know how"},{"surface":"satisfaire","lemma":"satisfaire","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"complement of sauront","gloss":"to satisfy"},{"surface":"un","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of coeur","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"coeur","lemma":"coeur","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"direct object of satisfaire","gloss":"heart"},{"surface":"comme","lemma":"comme","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking mien","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"le","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of mien","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"mien","lemma":"mien","morphology":"pronoun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of comme","gloss":"mine"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"l-ideal-s2-l1","source":"Je laisse à Gavarni, poète des chloroses,","translation":"I leave to Gavarni, the poet of the green-sicknesses,","stanza":2,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Gavarni","title":"Gavarni and «la chlorose»","body":"Gavarni was a popular nineteenth-century illustrator famous for his graceful, fashionable women. «la chlorose» (chlorosis, the 'green sickness') was the pale, anaemic languor then thought becoming in young women. Calling him «poète des chloroses» mocks the cult of the delicate, sickly beauty — the very type the poet hands back to him in this stanza."}],"words":[{"surface":"Je","lemma":"je","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of laisse","gloss":"I"},{"surface":"laisse","lemma":"laisser","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"leave"},{"surface":"à","lemma":"à","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking Gavarni","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"Gavarni","lemma":"Gavarni","morphology":"proper noun","role":"indirect object of laisse","gloss":"Gavarni"},{"surface":"poète","lemma":"poète","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"in apposition to Gavarni","gloss":"poet"},{"surface":"des","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking chloroses","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"chloroses","lemma":"chlorose","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"modifies poète","gloss":"green-sicknesses","note":"chlorose = anemia (\"greensickness\"), a 19th-c. term for pallid, fashionably fragile beauty."}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"l-ideal-s2-l2","source":"Son troupeau gazouillant de beautés d'hôpital,","translation":"His twittering flock of sickbed beauties,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"gazouillant","title":"«gazouiller» — to twitter, to warble","body":"«gazouiller» is the chirping of birds or the babble of small children. «son troupeau gazouillant» — 'his twittering flock' — reduces Gavarni's fashionable women to a herd («un troupeau») of prattling songbirds, and «beautés d'hôpital», 'hospital beauties', makes their pallor a symptom rather than a charm."}],"words":[{"surface":"Son","lemma":"son","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of troupeau","gloss":"his"},{"surface":"troupeau","lemma":"troupeau","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"direct object of laisse (previous line)","gloss":"flock"},{"surface":"gazouillant","lemma":"gazouiller","morphology":"verb, present, participle","role":"modifies troupeau","gloss":"twittering"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking beautés","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"beautés","lemma":"beauté","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"oblique argument of troupeau","gloss":"beauties"},{"surface":"d'","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking hôpital","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"hôpital","lemma":"hôpital","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"modifies beautés","gloss":"sickbed"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"l-ideal-s2-l3","source":"Car je ne puis trouver parmi ces pâles roses","translation":"For I cannot find among these pale roses","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"je ne puis","title":"«je ne puis» — literary 'I cannot'","body":"«je puis» is an older, elevated first-person form of «pouvoir», interchangeable with «je peux» but more formal and poetic. «je ne puis trouver» = 'I cannot find'. The raised register suits the poet's disdain as he searches «ces pâles roses» — these pale roses — for the one flower that could match his ideal."}],"words":[{"surface":"Car","lemma":"car","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"for"},{"surface":"je","lemma":"je","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of puis","gloss":"I"},{"surface":"ne","lemma":"ne","morphology":"adverb, negation","role":"negates puis","gloss":"[negation]"},{"surface":"puis","lemma":"pouvoir","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"cannot"},{"surface":"trouver","lemma":"trouver","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"complement of puis","gloss":"find"},{"surface":"parmi","lemma":"parmi","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking roses","gloss":"among"},{"surface":"ces","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, feminine, plural","role":"determiner of roses","gloss":"these"},{"surface":"pâles","lemma":"pâle","morphology":"adjective, feminine, plural","role":"modifies roses","gloss":"pale"},{"surface":"roses","lemma":"rose","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"oblique argument of trouver","gloss":"roses"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"l-ideal-s2-l4","source":"Une fleur qui ressemble à mon rouge idéal.","translation":"A flower that resembles my red ideal.","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"mon rouge idéal","title":"«rouge» against «pâle»","body":"«rouge» (red) is set point-blank against the «pâles roses» of the line before: the poet wants no anaemic, washed-out beauty but a 'red ideal' — full-blooded, vivid, alive. The colour anticipates the violent, powerful figures of the tercets, Lady Macbeth «au crime» and Michelangelo's brooding Night."}],"words":[{"surface":"Une","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of fleur","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"fleur","lemma":"fleur","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"direct object of trouver (previous line)","gloss":"flower"},{"surface":"qui","lemma":"qui","morphology":"relative pronoun","role":"subject of ressemble","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"ressemble","lemma":"ressembler","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"relative clause on fleur","gloss":"resembles"},{"surface":"à","lemma":"à","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking idéal","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"mon","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of idéal","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"rouge","lemma":"rouge","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies idéal","gloss":"red"},{"surface":"idéal","lemma":"idéal","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of ressemble","gloss":"ideal"}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"l-ideal-s3-l1","source":"Ce qu'il faut à ce coeur profond comme un abîme,","translation":"What this heart, deep as an abyss, requires,","stanza":3,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Ce qu'il faut à ce coeur","title":"«il faut à quelqu'un» — what someone needs","body":"«il faut» is impersonal ('it is necessary'); with an indirect object it means 'X needs / must have'. «ce qu'il faut à ce coeur» = 'what this heart needs'. Fronted at the head of the tercet, the clause hangs open until line 2 delivers the answer: «c'est vous, Lady Macbeth»."}],"words":[{"surface":"Ce","lemma":"ce","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"antecedent of qu', head of the clause, subject of the cleft resumed by C' in the next line","gloss":"What"},{"surface":"qu'","lemma":"que","morphology":"relative pronoun","role":"direct object of faut, introduces the relative clause on Ce","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"il","lemma":"il","morphology":"pronoun, impersonal, masculine, singular","role":"impersonal subject of faut","gloss":"[impersonal]"},{"surface":"faut","lemma":"falloir","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"relative clause on Ce","gloss":"is needed"},{"surface":"à","lemma":"à","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking coeur","gloss":"for"},{"surface":"ce","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of coeur","gloss":"this"},{"surface":"coeur","lemma":"coeur","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of faut","gloss":"heart"},{"surface":"profond","lemma":"profond","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies coeur","gloss":"deep"},{"surface":"comme","lemma":"comme","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking abîme","gloss":"as"},{"surface":"un","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of abîme","gloss":"an"},{"surface":"abîme","lemma":"abîme","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of profond","gloss":"abyss"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"l-ideal-s3-l2","source":"C'est vous, Lady Macbeth, âme puissante au crime,","translation":"Is you, Lady Macbeth, soul mighty in crime,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"âme puissante au crime","title":"«puissant à» — powerful at, equal to","body":"«puissant à» followed by a noun means 'powerful at, strong for, capable of'. «âme puissante au crime» — 'a soul mighty in crime' — names what the poet's abyssal heart demands: not a pretty face but a will great enough for evil. Lady Macbeth is the answer to «ce qu'il faut» two lines above."}],"words":[{"surface":"C'","lemma":"ce","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of est","gloss":"is","note":"\"C'est vous\" continues \"Ce qu'il faut... c'est vous\": what this heart needs IS you."},{"surface":"est","lemma":"être","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"copula linking C' to vous","gloss":"is"},{"surface":"vous","lemma":"vous","morphology":"pronoun, plural","role":"predicate complement of est","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"Lady","lemma":"Lady","morphology":"proper noun","role":"in apposition to vous","gloss":"Lady"},{"surface":"Macbeth","lemma":"Macbeth","morphology":"proper noun","role":"depends on Lady","gloss":"Macbeth"},{"surface":"âme","lemma":"âme","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"in apposition to Lady Macbeth","gloss":"soul"},{"surface":"puissante","lemma":"puissant","morphology":"adjective, feminine, singular","role":"modifies âme","gloss":"mighty"},{"surface":"au","lemma":"à","morphology":"contracted preposition (à + le)","role":"preposition marking crime","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"crime","lemma":"crime","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of puissante","gloss":"crime"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"l-ideal-s3-l3","source":"Rêve d'Eschyle éclos au climat des autans;","translation":"Dream of Aeschylus hatched in the climate of the south winds;","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"éclos","title":"«éclore» — to hatch, to bloom","body":"«éclos» is the past participle of «éclore», used of an egg hatching or a flower opening. «rêve d'Eschyle éclos au climat des autans» — 'a dream of Aeschylus, hatched in the climate of the storm-winds' — sets this tragic vision against the «pâles roses» earlier: not a hothouse bloom but a thing born of «les autans», the violent south winds."}],"words":[{"surface":"Rêve","lemma":"rêve","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"in apposition to vous/Lady Macbeth (previous line)","gloss":"Dream"},{"surface":"d'","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking Eschyle","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"Eschyle","lemma":"Eschyle","morphology":"proper noun","role":"modifies Rêve","gloss":"Aeschylus"},{"surface":"éclos","lemma":"éclore","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, singular","role":"modifies Rêve","gloss":"hatched"},{"surface":"au","lemma":"à","morphology":"contracted preposition (à + le)","role":"preposition marking climat","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"climat","lemma":"climat","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of éclos","gloss":"climate"},{"surface":"des","lemma":"de","morphology":"contracted preposition (de + les)","role":"preposition marking autans","gloss":"of the"},{"surface":"autans","lemma":"autan","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"modifies climat","gloss":"south winds"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"l-ideal-s4-l1","source":"Ou bien toi, grande Nuit, fille de Michel-Ange,","translation":"Or else you, great Night, daughter of Michelangelo,","stanza":4,"audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Ou","lemma":"ou","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"Or"},{"surface":"bien","lemma":"bien","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies Ou","gloss":"else"},{"surface":"toi","lemma":"toi","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"coordinated with vous (l-ideal-s3-l2), predicate complement","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"grande","lemma":"grand","morphology":"adjective, feminine, singular","role":"modifies Nuit","gloss":"great"},{"surface":"Nuit","lemma":"nuit","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"in apposition to toi","gloss":"Night"},{"surface":"fille","lemma":"fille","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"in apposition to Nuit","gloss":"daughter"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking Michel-Ange","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"Michel","lemma":"Michel-Ange","morphology":"proper noun, masculine, singular","role":"modifies fille","gloss":"Michel"},{"surface":"Ange","lemma":"Michel-Ange","morphology":"proper noun","role":"part of the name Michel-Ange","gloss":"angelo"}]},{"number":13,"label":"13","id":"l-ideal-s4-l2","source":"Qui tors paisiblement dans une pose étrange","translation":"Who calmly twist, in a strange pose,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Qui tors","title":"«tordre» — to twist","body":"«tu tors» is the second-person present of «tordre», 'to twist, to wring'. Addressed to «grande Nuit», «qui tors… tes appas» means 'you who twist your charms'. The verb keeps the statue's body in motion even at rest, «paisiblement» — calmly — within its «pose étrange», its strange contorted attitude."}],"words":[{"surface":"Qui","lemma":"qui","morphology":"relative pronoun","role":"subject of tors, refers to toi/Nuit","gloss":"who"},{"surface":"tors","lemma":"tordre","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, second-person, singular","role":"relative clause on toi/Nuit","gloss":"twist"},{"surface":"paisiblement","lemma":"paisiblement","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies tors","gloss":"calmly"},{"surface":"dans","lemma":"dans","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking pose","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"une","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of pose","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"pose","lemma":"pose","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"oblique argument of tors","gloss":"pose"},{"surface":"étrange","lemma":"étrange","morphology":"adjective, singular","role":"modifies pose","gloss":"strange"}]},{"number":14,"label":"14","id":"l-ideal-s4-l3","source":"Tes appas façonnés aux bouches des Titans!","translation":"Your charms shaped to the mouths of Titans!","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Tes appas façonnés","title":"«les appas» — bodily charms","body":"«les appas» (always plural) are physical allurements, the charms of a woman's body. «tes appas façonnés aux bouches des Titans» — 'your charms shaped for the mouths of Titans' — closes the sonnet on a note of colossal, almost monstrous scale: this ideal beauty is fashioned («façonnés») not for ordinary lovers but for giants."}],"words":[{"surface":"Tes","lemma":"ton","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of appas","gloss":"Your"},{"surface":"appas","lemma":"appas","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"direct object of tors (previous line)","gloss":"charms"},{"surface":"façonnés","lemma":"façonner","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, plural","role":"modifies appas","gloss":"shaped"},{"surface":"aux","lemma":"à","morphology":"contracted preposition (à + les)","role":"preposition marking bouches","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"bouches","lemma":"bouche","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"oblique argument of façonnés","gloss":"mouths"},{"surface":"des","lemma":"de","morphology":"contracted preposition (de + les)","role":"preposition marking Titans","gloss":"of the"},{"surface":"Titans","lemma":"titan","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"modifies bouches","gloss":"Titans"}]}]}