French · Spleen and Ideal

Le Flacon

The Flask

28 lines · 13 notes

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1
There are strong scents for which all matter
Ilthereil · pronoun, impersonalimpersonal subject of est
estareêtre · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence (impersonal construction 'il est' = 'there are')
desomede · preposition, partitivepartitive marker of parfums
Partitive "de" before a preposed adjective ("de forts parfums") stands in for "des".
fortsstrongfort · adjective, masculine, pluralmodifies parfums
parfumsscentsparfum · noun, masculine, pluralcomplement of est (logical subject of the impersonal construction)
pourforpour · prepositionpreposition marking qui
quiwhichqui · pronounobject of pour, refers back to parfums
toutealltout · determiner, feminine, singulardeterminer of matière
matièremattermatière · noun, feminine, singularsubject of Est (le-flacon-s1-l2)
Grammar«il est» = il y a (literary) «il est de forts parfums» is the elevated, literary form of «il y a de forts parfums» — 'there are strong scents'. The partitive «de» before a plural noun preceded by an adjective («forts parfums») replaces «des». The whole poem opens on this existential register, presenting the perfumes as a class of thing.
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is porous. One would say they pass through glass.
Grammar«on dirait que» (conditional) «on dirait» is the conditional of «dire» used idiomatically: 'one would say / it seems / you'd think'. It softens an assertion into an impression — the scents only seem to penetrate the glass. The relative «pour qui» in line 1 («for which / for whom») finds its verb here in «Est poreuse».
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On opening a casket come from the East
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whose lock grates and balks with a cry,
Wordrechigner «rechigner» = 'to balk, to grumble, to do reluctantly'. Paired with «grince» ('grates, creaks'), it half-personifies the lock, as if the casket resists being opened. «en criant» = 'while crying out' — the gerund «en + present participle» marks simultaneous action.
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or in a deserted house, some wardrobe
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full of the acrid smell of past time, dusty and black,
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sometimes one finds an old flask that remembers,
Grammarse souvenir (pronominal) «se souvenir» = 'to remember' — a pronominal verb that always carries the reflexive pronoun, and takes «de» before its object («se souvenir de qqch»). Here it stands alone and absolute — the flask simply «se souvient», 'remembers' — which is what lets a mere bottle become the carrier of an entire returning soul.
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from which leaps, fully alive, a soul that returns.
GrammarVerb–subject inversion After the locative «d'où» ('from which'), French inverts verb and subject: «jaillit … une âme» = 'a soul leaps forth'. «jaillir» = 'to spurt, gush, spring out'. «toute vive» ('quite alive', feminine of «vif») agrees with «âme» — the soul bursts out wholly living.
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A thousand thoughts lay sleeping, funereal chrysalises,
Wordpenser (archaic noun) «pensers» is an archaic, poetic noun meaning 'thoughts' (the modern word is «pensées»). Using the verb «penser» as a masculine noun lends an old, elevated tone. The thoughts are likened to «chrysalides funèbres» — chrysalises waiting in mournful dormancy to hatch.
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quivering softly in the heavy darkness,
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that free their wings and take their flight,
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tinted with azure, glazed with rose, spangled with gold.
Wordlamé / glacé (metallurgy of color) «lamé» means 'spangled, threaded with metal' (the fabric «lamé» is woven with gold or silver). «glacé» = 'glazed, iced, frosted'. The three past participles — «teintés», «glacés», «lamés» — turn the freed thoughts into shimmering, jewel-like wings, color rendered as precious metalwork.
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There is the intoxicating memory that flutters
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in the troubled air; the eyes close; Vertigo
GrammarReflexive for the passive/middle «se fermer» = 'to close (by itself)'. French uses the pronominal «se» where English would say the eyes close or are closed — there is no separate agent. It gives the surrender a passive, involuntary feel, just before «le Vertige» seizes the soul in the next line.
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seizes the vanquished soul and shoves it with both hands
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toward an abyss darkened with human miasmas;
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It fells it at the edge of a centuries-old abyss,
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where, a fragrant Lazarus tearing his shroud,
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the spectral corpse stirs in its waking,
Grammarse mouvoir + inversion «se mouvoir» = 'to move, to stir' (pronominal; «se meut» is its irregular present). The subject «le cadavre spectral» is held back to the end of the line, the inverted word order making the corpse seem to rise into motion only as the sentence completes.
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of an old rancid love, charming and sepulchral.
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So, when I shall be lost in the memory
Grammarquand + future tense After «quand» ('when') for a future event, French requires the future tense — «je serai» ('I shall be') — where English uses the present ('when I am lost'). This stanza is the volta: the poet turns from describing flasks to imagining himself as one, the old bottle of a love discarded and forgotten.
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of men, in the corner of a sinister wardrobe
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when I have been thrown away, an old desolate flask,
GrammarFuture perfect after «quand» «on m'aura jeté» is the future perfect ('one will have thrown me away'), the impersonal «on» standing for 'people / someone'. After «quand», the future perfect marks an action completed before another future moment — once I have been cast off, then I will be that flask.
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decrepit, dusty, dirty, abject, slimy, cracked,
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I shall be your coffin, lovable pestilence!
WordOxymoron in the vocative «aimable» = 'kind, lovable, amiable'; «pestilence» = 'plague, contagion, stench'. The exclamatory address yokes them into an oxymoron — the beloved is a sweet infection. This sets up the closing apostrophes: «Cher poison», «liqueur / Qui me ronge», love named as the dear poison that eats the heart.
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the witness of your strength and your virulence,
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dear poison brewed by the angels! a liquor
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that gnaws at me, O the life and the death of my heart!
Wordronger «ronger» = 'to gnaw, eat away, corrode' (literally, what a rodent or rust does). The relative «qui» refers to «liqueur» — the angelic poison that gnaws at the speaker. The final apposition «ô la vie et la mort de mon coeur» fuses the contraries one last time: this love is at once the life and the death of his heart.

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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