French · Spleen and Ideal

La Pipe

The Pipe

14 lines · 8 notes

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1
I am the pipe of an author;
JeIje · pronoun, first-person, singularsubject of suis
suisamêtre · verb, present, indicative, first-person, singularcopula linking Je and pipe
lathele · determiner, feminine, singulardeterminer of pipe
pipepipepipe · noun, feminine, singularpredicate complement of suis
d'ofde · prepositionpreposition marking auteur
unanun · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of auteur
auteurauthorauteur · noun, masculine, singularobject of d', modifies pipe
2
One sees, on contemplating my look,
Grammar«à» + infinitive = 'on / in doing' «à contempler ma mine» uses «à» before an infinitive to mean 'on / by / in contemplating my face' — the act through which «on voit» (one sees). «la mine» here is the pipe's countenance, its outward look — the dark, smoke-stained bowl described in the next line.
3
of an Abyssinian woman or a Kaffir woman,
Word«Abyssinienne», «Cafrine» — dark-skinned faces An «Abyssinienne» is a woman of Abyssinia (Ethiopia); «Cafrine» is the feminine of «Cafre», a now-archaic and pejorative colonial word for a Black southern African ('Kaffir'). Both name dark, dusky faces: the pipe's bowl — meerschaum or clay deepened by years of smoke — has taken on a swarthy complexion. The exotic-feminine coloring is typical of Baudelaire's imagery.
4
that my master is a heavy smoker.
5
When he is overwhelmed with sorrow,
Word«combler» — to fill to the brim «combler» normally means 'to fill up, to heap, to gratify' — one is usually «comblé de joie» (overflowing with joy). Pairing it with «douleur» is a deliberate twist: the master is filled to overflowing not with happiness but with grief. The past participle «comblé» agrees with the masculine «il».
6
I smoke like the little cottage
Word«la chaumine» — a thatched cottage «la chaumine» is a humble thatched-roof cottage, a diminutive of «la chaumière» (from «le chaume», thatch/straw). The pipe 'smokes' (sends up smoke) just as a peasant's cottage sends up a plume from its chimney — a homely, comforting image of the fire kept burning indoors.
7
where the meal is being made ready
GrammarPassive reflexive «se préparer» «se préparer» here is the reflexive used with a passive sense: «la cuisine se prépare» = 'the cooking is being prepared / gets made ready', with no named cook. French often prefers this to a true passive. Note also the inversion — verb «se prépare» before its subject «la cuisine» — driven by the rhyme with «chaumine» and «cuisine».
8
for the ploughman's return.
9
I entwine and I cradle his soul
Word«bercer» — to rock, to lull «bercer» is to rock a cradle, to lull to sleep — and figuratively to soothe or beguile. The same verb opens «Au Lecteur», where Satan «berce» the enchanted spirit; here the pipe lulls the poet's soul gently rather than diabolically. «enlacer» = 'to lace around, to entwine, to embrace', so the soul is at once wrapped and rocked in the rising smoke.
10
in the shifting, blue-tinged web
11
that rises from my burning mouth,
12
And I roll out a potent balm
Word«le dictame» — a healing balm «le dictame» (dittany) is an aromatic herb the ancients prized for healing wounds; by extension the word means a soothing balm or remedy. The pipe 'rolls out' («rouler») not just smoke but a potent salve — picked up in the next line by «guérit» (heals), curing the smoker's weary spirit.
13
that charms his heart and heals
14
his spirit of its weariness.
Grammar«guérir [qqn] de [qqch]» across the line break The construction is «guérir X de Y» — 'to cure / heal X of Y'. Here X is «son esprit» (his spirit) and Y is «ses fatigues» (his weariness, his fatigues), but the poet splits them across the line break and reverses them: «guérit / De ses fatigues son esprit» = 'heals his spirit of its weariness'. Reading the prose order — «guérit son esprit de ses fatigues» — unlocks the final line.

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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