French · Parisian Scenes

La servante au grand coeur dont vous étiez jalouse

The Servant with the Great Heart of Whom You Were Jealous

22 lines · 17 notes

Tap a line to open its words.

1
The servant with the great heart of whom you were jealous,
LaThele · determiner, feminine, singulardeterminer of servante
servanteservantservante · noun, feminine, singularhead of the phrase
auwith theà · prepositionpreposition marking coeur
grandgreatgrand · adjective, masculine, singularmodifies coeur
coeurheartcoeur · noun, masculine, singularmodifies servante
dontof whomdont · pronoundepends on jalouse
vousyouvous · pronoun, pluralsubject of jalouse
étiezwereêtre · verb, imperfect, indicative, second-person, pluralcopula linking to jalouse
jalousejealousjaloux · adjective, singularrelative clause on coeur
GrammarRelative «dont» with «jaloux de» «dont» is the relative pronoun that stands in for «de + noun». Because one is jealous «de» someone — «être jaloux de quelqu'un» — the link is made with «dont»: «la servante dont vous étiez jalouse» = 'the servant of whom you were jealous'.
2
And who sleeps her sleep beneath a humble plot of grass,
GrammarCognate (figura etymologica) object «dormir» is normally intransitive, but here it takes its own noun as object: «dort son sommeil» = 'sleeps her sleep'. This doubling of verb and kindred noun is an old, solemn turn that weights the line — the sleep here is death.
3
We ought nevertheless to bring her a few flowers.
GrammarConditional of «devoir»: ought / should «devrions» is the present conditional of «devoir». Used this way it expresses moral obligation softened by regret — 'we ought to, we should'. «pourtant» ('nevertheless, and yet') marks the reproach: we owe her this, and yet we forget.
4
The dead, the poor dead, have great sorrows,
5
And when October blows, that pruner of the old trees,
Wordémondeur (m.) An «émondeur» is one who prunes or strips trees of their dead wood — from «émonder», 'to prune'. October is cast «en apposition» as the «émondeur des vieux arbres», the wind that strips the old trees bare, a figure of cold dispossession.
6
Its melancholy wind around about their marble stones,
Wordà l'entour de = around «à l'entour de» is an older, literary equivalent of «autour de», 'around, round about'. «leurs marbres» — 'their marble stones' — means the headstones of the dead; the wind circles their graves.
7
Surely they must find the living quite ungrateful,
WordCerte (poetic for «certes») «Certe» is a poetic, apocopated form of «certes», 'surely, indeed' — the final 's' dropped to fit the metre. «trouver X + adjective» here means 'to find X (to be) so-and-so': 'they must find the living quite ungrateful'.
8
Sleeping, as they do, warmly in their sheets,
9
While they, devoured by black broodings,
Wordsongerie (f.) A «songerie» is a reverie, a long brooding daydream — from «songer», 'to muse, to dream'. «noires songeries» = 'black reveries', the dark, sleepless musings of the dead, set against the warm, easy sleep of the living above.
10
Without a bedfellow, without warm conversations,
Wordcauserie (f.) A «causerie» is an informal chat or friendly talk — from «causer», 'to chat'. «bonnes causeries» are the good, companionable conversations the dead are deprived of; the line lists, by their absence, the small comforts of being alive.
11
Old frozen skeletons worked away at by the worm,
GrammarPast participle as passive: «travaillé par» The past participle «travaillés» agrees with «squelettes» (masc. pl.) and works as a passive with «par»: 'worked on / wrought by the worm'. «travailler» here keeps its concrete sense of laboring at, gnawing, eating into the bone.
12
They feel the winter's snows trickling down drop by drop
GrammarPerception verb + reflexive infinitive After a verb of perception like «sentir», French uses a bare infinitive whose subject follows it: «ils sentent s'égoutter les neiges» = 'they feel the snows drip'. «s'égoutter» is pronominal — 'to drip, to drain off drop by drop', from «goutte», a drop.
13
And the century flowing by, without friends or family
Grammar«sans que» + subjunctive The conjunction «sans que» ('without ... -ing') always takes the subjunctive: «sans qu'amis ni famille Remplacent...» = 'without friends or family replacing...'. The verb «Remplacent» on the next line is that subjunctive. Note «ni ... ni» for 'neither ... nor'.
14
To replace the tatters that hang upon their railing.
Wordlambeau (m.) / grille (f.) «lambeaux» are shreds, rags, tatters; a «grille» is the iron railing or gate enclosing a grave plot. The image is of withered funeral wreaths left to rot on the graveside railing, with no one to renew them.
15
When the log hisses and sings, if of an evening
16
Calm, in the armchair I were to see her sit down,
GrammarImperfect for a hypothesis; «s'asseoir» Within this «si» clause the imperfect «voyais» sets up a tentative supposition — 'if I were to see her'. «s'asseoir» is the pronominal verb 'to sit (oneself) down'; its reflexive «s'» refers back to «la», the servant who would seat herself by the fire.
17
If, on some blue and cold December night,
18
I were to find her crouched in a corner of my room,
Wordtapi (adj., from «se tapir») «tapie» (fem.) is the past participle of «se tapir», 'to crouch, to huddle, to nestle low' — used as an adjective: 'crouched, hidden away'. It gives the returning servant the still, shrinking posture of a ghost waiting in the corner.
19
Grave, and coming from the depth of her eternal bed
20
To brood over the grown child with her motherly eye,
Wordcouver = to brood over «couver» is literally to sit on eggs, to hatch; figuratively to watch over tenderly, to cherish with one's gaze — «couver des yeux». «Couver l'enfant grandi de son oeil maternel» = 'to brood over the grown child with her motherly eye', the hen-like care of the dead servant for the now-grown boy.
21
What could I answer to that pious soul,
GrammarConditional with inversion in a question «pourrais-je» is the conditional of «pouvoir» with subject-verb inversion to form the question: 'what could I answer?'. The conditional carries the whole hypothesis of the preceding «si» clauses to its helpless close.
22
Seeing tears fall from her hollow eyelid?
GrammarPresent participle + perception; «pleurs» «Voyant» is the present participle of «voir», 'seeing', taking a bare infinitive «tomber» whose subject follows: 'seeing tears fall'. «pleurs» (always plural, masc.) is a poetic word for tears; «paupière creuse» — 'hollow eyelid' — gives the weeping a fleshless, skull-like cast.

The particulars

The text: Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire. Parisian Scenes.
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
Data: JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents