French · Spleen and Ideal

Le Chat

The Cat

42 lines · 25 notes

Tap a line to open its words.

1
I
III · numeralsection marker
2
Through my brain there strolls about,
Grammar«se promener» — to stroll, to wander «se promener» is a pronominal verb — the reflexive «se» turns 'to walk' into 'to take a stroll, to wander about'. Here the subject «Un beau chat» is held back two lines, so the line opens on the action and place — «Dans ma cervelle se promène» = 'in my brain wanders' — and only later names what wanders. The cat is imagined pacing the poet's mind as though it were a room, an image the next line makes explicit.
3
As if it were in its own apartment,
Word«ainsi que» — just as, in the same way as «ainsi que» means 'just as, in the same manner as', introducing a comparison: the cat moves through the poet's mind «ainsi qu'en son appartement» = 'just as it would in its own lodgings'. «qu'en» is «que» + «en» elided before a vowel. The likeness makes the brain the cat's home territory, the inner room it owns.
4
A fine cat, strong, gentle and charming.
5
When it mews, one barely hears it,
Word«à peine» — barely, hardly «à peine» is an adverbial idiom meaning 'barely, hardly, scarcely'. «on l'entend à peine» = 'one can hardly hear it'. The impersonal «on» ('one, people') keeps the observation general, and «l'» is the object pronoun «le» (it) elided before the vowel of «entend». The faintness sets up the next stanza's praise of how tender and discreet the cat's voice is.
6
So tender and discreet is its tone;
Grammar«tant» — so much, to such a degree «tant» means 'so, so much, to such a degree', here explaining the «à peine» of the line before: one barely hears the cat «Tant son timbre est tendre» = 'so tender is its tone'. The cause runs across the stanza break, a single thought split over two stanzas. «le timbre» is the particular colour or quality of a voice.
7
But whether its voice grows calm or growls,
Grammar«que … ou …» + subjunctive — whether … or … «que sa voix s'apaise ou gronde» uses «que» with the subjunctive to mean 'whether its voice quiets or growls' — a concessive 'whatever it does'. «s'apaise» is the pronominal «s'apaiser» (to grow calm, to subside); «gronde» is «gronder» (to rumble, growl, scold). Both verbs are subjunctive, though here they look identical to the indicative; the construction concedes either case before insisting the voice is always rich.
8
It is always rich and deep.
9
That is its charm and its secret.
10
This voice, which beads and filters
Word«perler» — to form in droplets, to bead «perler» (from «la perle», pearl) means 'to form in beads or droplets, to bead up' — sweat or dew that gathers into glistening pearls. Paired with «filtre» ('seeps, trickles through'), it makes the cat's voice a liquid that pearls and percolates «Dans mon fonds le plus ténébreux» = 'into my darkest depths'. The relative «qui» ('which') repeats to chain the two verbs to «Cette voix».
11
Into my most shadowy depths,
12
Fills me like a sonorous verse
Word«nombreux» — rhythmical, well-cadenced (of verse) «nombreux» usually means 'numerous', but applied to «un vers» (a line of poetry) it carries its older Latin sense (from «numerus», measure, rhythm): a line that is 'full, sonorous, rhythmically rich'. «un vers nombreux» = 'a flowing, well-cadenced line of verse'. Baudelaire likens the cat's voice to good poetry filling him — a quiet boast about his own art.
13
And gladdens me like a love-potion.
Word«un philtre» — a magic potion, a love-philtre «un philtre» is a magic draught, especially a love-potion brewed to enchant — not «un filtre» (a filter), despite the rhyme with «filtre» two lines up. «me réjouit comme un philtre» = 'delights me like a love-potion'. The voice that filters into him now intoxicates him, carrying the cat's spell from sound into the realm of magic and desire.
14
It lulls to sleep the cruelest pains
Word«endormir» — to lull to sleep, to soothe away «endormir» is 'to put to sleep, to lull'; figuratively 'to soothe, to deaden'. «Elle endort les plus cruels maux» = 'it lulls the cruelest pains to sleep'. «les maux» is the irregular plural of «le mal» (evil, ill, pain). The cat's voice works like an anaesthetic, an opiate set against the «extases» it also contains in the next line.
15
And holds within it every ecstasy;
16
To speak the longest sentences,
17
It has no need of words.
Grammar«avoir besoin de» — to need «avoir besoin de» is the fixed way to say 'to need (something)': literally 'to have need of'. Negated, «n'a pas besoin de» = 'has no need of'. After a negative, the partitive collapses to bare «de», so it is «besoin de mots» ('need of words'), not «de des mots». The wordless voice 'says' the longest sentences — the cat communes beyond language.
18
No, there is no bow that bites
Grammar«il n'est pas de» + subjunctive «qui morde» «il n'est pas de» is a literary equivalent of «il n'y a pas de» ('there is no…'): «il n'est pas d'archet» = 'there is no bow'. The following relative takes the subjunctive — «qui morde» (from «mordre», to bite) rather than indicative «mord» — because it describes something asserted not to exist. «un archet» is the bow of a stringed instrument, setting up the poet's heart as that instrument in the next line.
19
Upon my heart, that perfect instrument,
20
And makes more royally
Grammar«fasse» — subjunctive of «faire» «fasse» is the present subjunctive of «faire» (to make, to do), the second verb of the relative «qui morde … et fasse», kept subjunctive for the same reason as «morde». «faire chanter» here is 'to make sing': no bow makes the heart's «plus vibrante corde» ('most vibrant string') 'sing more royally' than the cat's voice will, in the line that completes the comparison.
21
Its most resonant string sing,
22
Than your voice, mysterious cat,
Grammar«Que» — the second term of a comparison This «Que» is 'than', closing the comparison opened by «plus» three lines back: no bow makes the heart sing more royally «Que ta voix» = 'than your voice'. The poem also pivots here from «il» (the cat as 'it') to «ta voix» ('your voice'), turning to address the cat directly — «chat mystérieux» — for its rapturous final apostrophe.
23
Seraphic cat, strange cat,
24
In whom all is, as in an angel,
25
As subtle as it is harmonious!
Grammar«aussi … que …» — as … as … «aussi … que …» expresses equal degree, 'as … as …': «Aussi subtil qu'harmonieux» = 'as subtle as (it is) harmonious'. «que» elides to «qu'» before the vowel of «harmonieux» (the «h» is mute). The line caps Part I's angelic praise — in the cat, as in an angel, everything is balanced perfectly between the subtle and the harmonious.
26
II
27
From its fur, fair and brown,
Word«la fourrure» — fur, coat; «blonde» of an animal «la fourrure» is the animal's fur or pelt. «blonde et brune» describes its colour, 'fair and brown' — «blond» is not only human hair-colour but any pale gold tint. The line begins on «De» ('from'), and the verb «Sort» ('rises, comes forth') opens the next line, so the perfume is named before we learn it issues from the coat the poet has stroked.
28
Rises a scent so sweet that, one evening,
Grammar«si … que …» — so … that … «si … que …» is the consequence construction 'so … that …': «un parfum si doux, qu'… J'en fus embaumé» = 'a scent so sweet that I was perfumed by it'. «Sort» (from «sortir», to come out, issue) is inverted before its subject «un parfum». «qu'un soir» = «que» + «un soir» ('that one evening'), launching the result that spills across the rest of the stanza.
29
I was perfumed by it, for having
Grammar«en» + «fus» (past historic) — perfumed by it «en» is the pronoun 'by it / with it', standing in for «de ce parfum»: «J'en fus embaumé» = 'I was perfumed by it'. «fus» is the «passé simple» (literary past) of «être», so «fus embaumé» = 'was embalmed/perfumed', a passive in the storytelling past tense. «embaumer» means both 'to perfume, to fill with fragrance' and 'to embalm' — a faint funereal undertone beneath the sweetness.
30
Stroked it once, just once.
Grammar«pour avoir» + past participle — for having done «pour avoir caressée» is the perfect infinitive 'for having stroked', giving the cause: he was perfumed for the single caress. The participle «caressée» takes a feminine «-e» because its object «l'» (= «la fourrure», feminine) comes before the verb — the rule of agreement with a preceding direct object. «rien qu'une» = 'only once, just the one time', underlining how little contact left so lasting a scent.
31
It is the familiar spirit of the place;
32
It judges, it presides, it inspires
GrammarAnaphora — the drumbeat of «il» The line stacks three present-tense verbs each behind a repeated subject «il» ('it'): «Il juge, il préside, il inspire» — 'it judges, it presides, it inspires'. This repetition (anaphora) gives the cat the ritual cadence of a litany, listing its powers like those of a presiding god before the stanza asks outright whether it is «fée» or «dieu».
33
All things within its empire;
34
Perhaps it is a fairy, is it a god?
Grammar«peut-être» triggers inversion When «peut-être» ('perhaps') opens a clause, the subject and verb usually invert: «Peut-être est-il» = 'perhaps is it', not «peut-être il est». «est-il fée, est-il dieu?» = 'is it a fairy, is it a god?'. «une fée» is a fairy or fey spirit; pairing it with «dieu» leaves the cat's nature deliberately undecided, half-magical, half-divine.
35
When my eyes, toward this cat I love,
36
Drawn as if by a magnet,
Grammar«tirés» — past participle modifying «mes yeux» «Tirés» is the past participle of «tirer» (to pull, draw), agreeing with the plural «mes yeux»: 'my eyes, drawn'. It heads a participial phrase set between the subject and its verb «Se retournent» — French verse often suspends the sentence this way. «comme par un aimant» = 'as if by a magnet' («un aimant», a lodestone), the pull that turns the gaze inward in the lines that follow.
37
Turn back obediently
Grammar«se retourner» — to turn back / turn round «se retourner» is a pronominal verb, 'to turn round, to turn back': «mes yeux … Se retournent» = 'my eyes turn back'. The reflexive «se» shows the eyes turning of their own accord, willingly — reinforced by «docilement» ('obediently, meekly'). Drawn to the cat, the gaze then bends inward, so that looking at the animal becomes looking «en moi-même» ('into myself').
38
And when I look within myself,
Grammar«Et que» — resuming «Quand» without repeating it «Et que» picks up the «Quand» ('when') that opened the stanza, so the second clause need not repeat «quand»: 'When my eyes turn back … and when I look within myself'. This «que»-for-«quand» is the normal way French chains a second time-clause. The long 'when' built across the whole stanza waits for its main verb «Je vois» ('I see') in the final stanza.
39
I see with astonishment
40
The fire of its pale pupils,
Word«la prunelle» — the pupil of the eye «la prunelle» is the pupil of the eye (from «la prune», plum — for its dark round shape), often standing poetically for the whole eye or its glance. «ses prunelles pâles» = 'its pale pupils'. The cat's eyes burn with a cold light, and the metaphors crowd in over the next two lines — beacons, then living opals — turning the gaze into something at once luminous and stony.
41
Bright beacons, living opals
Word«un fanal» — a beacon-lamp «un fanal» is a large lamp or signal-light — a ship's lantern, a lighthouse beacon — and its plural is the irregular «fanaux». «Clairs fanaux» = 'bright beacons'. Set beside «vivantes opales» ('living opals'), the two appositions, with no verb between them, pile image on image: the cat's eyes are at once guiding lights and breathing gemstones that watch the poet «fixement» ('fixedly').
42
Which contemplate me fixedly.

The particulars

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