French · Spleen and Ideal

La Cloche fêlée

The Cracked Bell

14 lines · 8 notes

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1
It is bitter and sweet, during the winter nights,
Ilitil · pronoun, masculine, singularimpersonal subject of est, anticipates the infinitive écouter (next line)
estisêtre · auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularcopula linking to amer
amerbitteramer · adjective, masculine, singularhead of the phrase
etandet · conjunctionlinks the coordination
douxsweetdoux · adjective, masculine, singularcoordinated with amer
pendantduringpendant · prepositionpreposition marking nuits
lesthele · determiner, pluraldeterminer of nuits
nuitsnightsnuit · noun, feminine, pluraltemporal complement of the clause (amer et doux)
d'ofde · prepositionpreposition marking hiver
hiverwinterhiver · noun, masculine, singularmodifies nuits
Wordamer / doux «amer» = 'bitter', «doux» = 'sweet, soft, gentle'. The paired opposites announce the poem's whole mood: remembering by the fire is at once painful and tender. The impersonal «il est» here is the literary equivalent of «c'est» — 'it is'.
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to listen, beside the fire that flickers and smokes,
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to far-off memories slowly rising
GrammarPronominal «s'élever» «s'élever» is the pronominal verb 'to rise, to climb'. The reflexive «se» makes the rising self-caused: the «souvenirs lointains» (distant memories) lift of their own accord. The infinitive depends on «écouter» in the line above — we listen to them rise, like the bells of the next line.
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to the sound of the chimes that sing in the mist.
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Blessed is the bell with the vigorous throat
Wordbienheureux / bienheureuse «bienheureux» means 'blissful, blessed' and is also the church term for the 'Blessed' (the beatified). Placed first, with no verb, it works as an exclamation: 'Blessed [is] the bell…'. The religious tint prepares «son cri religieux» two lines down.
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which, despite its old age, alert and hale,
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faithfully casts out its religious cry,
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just like an old soldier keeping watch beneath the tent!
Grammar«ainsi que» = 'just as' «ainsi que» is the literary comparison 'just as, like'. It opens the simile that closes the octave: the faithful bell is likened to «un vieux soldat qui veille» — an old soldier on watch — setting up the wounded soldier the cracked soul will become in the final tercet.
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I — my soul is cracked, and when, in its weariness,
Wordfêlé(e) «fêler» = 'to crack' (a bell, a glass, a voice) — a flaw that leaves the object whole but dulls its ring. The title's «cloche fêlée» turns inward here: «mon âme est fêlée» — the poet's own soul is the cracked bell, no longer able to sound clear.
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it tries to people the cold night air with its songs,
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it often happens that its weakened voice
GrammarImpersonal «il arrive que» «il arrive que» is the impersonal construction 'it happens that'. The «il» is a dummy subject (no real 'it'); the true clause follows — «que sa voix affaiblie semble…». «il arrive que» normally governs the subjunctive; with «sembler» the 3sg subjunctive and indicative are identical («semble»), so the form here is ambiguous.
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seems the thick death-rattle of a wounded man left forgotten
Wordle râle «le râle» is the rattling, labored breath of the dying — the 'death-rattle'. «épais» ('thick') clogs the sound further. Against the bell's clear «cri religieux», the cracked soul can manage only this choked rasp.
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at the edge of a lake of blood, under a great heap of the dead,
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and who dies, without moving, in immense struggles.
Grammar«de» before a fronted adjective Before a plural noun led by an adjective, «des» reduces to «de»: «d'immenses efforts», not «des immenses efforts». The final paradox lands hard — the man «meurt, sans bouger» (dies without moving) yet «dans d'immenses efforts» (amid immense efforts): motionless, and straining with all his strength.

The particulars

The text: Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire. Spleen and Ideal.
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
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