French · Spleen and Ideal

La Muse malade

The Sick Muse

14 lines · 9 notes

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1
My poor muse, alas! what is the matter with you this morning?
Mamymon · determiner, feminine, singulardeterminer of muse
pauvrepoorpauvre · adjective, feminine, singularmodifies muse
musemusemuse · noun, feminine, singularvocative, head of the sentence
hélasalashélas · interjectionparenthetical exclamation
qu'whatque · interrogative pronoundirect object of as
asdo you haveavoir · verb, present, indicative, second-person, singularmain verb of the question
tuyoutu · pronoun, singularsubject of as
doncthendonc · adverbmodifies as
cethisce · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of matin
matinmorningmatin · noun, masculine, singulardepends on as
GrammarInversion in «qu'as-tu» «qu'as-tu?» is the inverted, literary form of «qu'est-ce que tu as?» — 'what's wrong with you?'. The verb «as» (from «avoir», to have) is placed before the subject pronoun «tu», a hallmark of elevated register. «donc» here is not 'therefore' but an emphatic particle, roughly 'then / on earth': 'what on earth is wrong with you?'
2
Your hollow eyes are peopled with nocturnal visions,
3
And I see, by turns, reflected on your face
Word«tour à tour» — one after another «tour à tour» is a fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'in turn, one after the other, alternately'. It governs the pair named in the next line — madness and horror crossing the muse's face by turns. «le teint» is the complexion or hue of the skin; «sur ton teint» = 'on your face / in your colour'.
4
Madness and horror, cold and taciturn.
5
Has the greenish succubus and the rosy imp
Word«le succube» and «le lutin» A «succube» is a succubus — a female demon believed to lie with sleepers; «verdâtre» (greenish) gives it a sickly, corpse-like cast. A «lutin» is a goblin or mischievous sprite, here «rose» (pink, rosy) and seductive. The two — one ghastly, one charming — are the night-spirits Baudelaire suspects of having poisoned the muse.
6
Poured fear and love over you from their urns?
7
Has the nightmare, with a despotic and rebellious fist,
Word«mutin» «mutin» is a literary adjective meaning unruly, rebellious, mutinous — and sometimes teasingly impish. Paired with «despotique» (despotic), it gives the nightmare's «poing» (fist) a wilful, insubordinate violence: a tyrant's hand that also delights in its own mischief.
8
Drowned you in the depths of a fabulous Minturnae?
GrammarPast-participle agreement with the fronted object In «t'a-t-il noyée», the participle «noyé» (from «noyer», to drown) takes a feminine «-e» — «noyée» — because its direct object «t'» (the feminine muse) precedes the verb. With «avoir», the past participle agrees only when the direct object comes first, as it does in this inverted question. The «-t-» in «a-t-il» is a euphonic insert that keeps the inversion pronounceable.
9
I would wish that, breathing out the scent of health,
Grammar«vouloir que» + subjunctive «vouloir que» ('to wish that') forces the subjunctive in the clause it governs — the mood completed three lines down in «fût» (line s3-l2) and «coulât» (line s3-l3). «je voudrais» is itself the conditional of «vouloir», softening the wish to 'I would like / I wish'. «qu'exhalant» opens the clause with the present participle «exhalant» (from «exhaler», to breathe out / exhale).
10
Your breast were always frequented by strong thoughts,
Word«les pensers» — an archaic noun «pensers» is an old, poetic masculine noun meaning 'thoughts' (modern French would use «pensées»). «fût» is the imperfect subjunctive of «être», required by «je voudrais que» — 'that your breast were always frequented by strong thoughts'. The wish is for a healthy, vigorous imagination to inhabit the muse in place of the demons.
11
And that your Christian blood flowed in rhythmic waves,
GrammarImperfect subjunctive «coulât» «coulât» is the imperfect subjunctive of «couler» (to flow), again triggered by «je voudrais que». «à flots» is an idiom — 'in floods, in streams, abundantly' — sharpened here by «rythmiques» (rhythmic). The blood is to flow not just freely but in measure, which the next stanza will reveal to mean the measure of ancient verse.
12
Like the manifold sounds of antique syllables,
Word«nombreux» in its metrical sense Beyond the everyday 'numerous', «nombreux» carries here its old prosodic sense — 'well-cadenced, harmoniously measured', from Latin «numerosus». «les syllabes antiques» are the syllables of classical (Greek and Latin) verse, whose long-and-short quantities gave it its rhythm, the simile completing the wish for blood that flows «à flots rythmiques».
13
Over which reign, by turns, the father of songs,
14
Phoebus, and great Pan, the lord of the harvests.

The particulars

The text: Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire. Spleen and Ideal.
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