French · Spleen and Ideal

Le Flambeau vivant

The Living Torch

14 lines · 11 notes

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1
They go before me, those Eyes full of lights,
IlsTheyil · pronoun, masculine, pluralsubject of marchent
marchentgomarcher · verb, present, indicative, third-person, pluralmain verb of the sentence
devantbeforedevant · prepositionpreposition marking moi
moimemoi · pronoun, first-person, singulardepends on marchent
cesthosece · determiner, pluraldeterminer of Yeux
YeuxEyesoeil · noun, masculine, pluralin apposition to Ils
pleinsfullplein · adjective, masculine, pluralmodifies Yeux
deofde · prepositionpreposition marking lumières
lumièreslightslumière · noun, feminine, pluralmodifies pleins
GrammarDislocation: pronoun first, then the noun it names The line opens with «Ils marchent» ('they walk / they go on'), then hangs «ces Yeux» ('those Eyes') at the end in apposition to spell out who 'they' are — a left-to-right dislocation common in verse for emphasis: 'they go before me, those Eyes'. «Yeux» is capitalized to mark them as a presence, almost a personage. «pleins de lumières» = 'full of lights', the plural «lumières» suggesting many glints rather than one steady glow.
2
Which some very learned Angel has surely magnetized;
Word«aimanter» — to magnetize «aimanter» means 'to magnetize, to make magnetic' (from «aimant», a magnet): «a ... aimantés» = 'has magnetized'. The relative «Qu'» ('which') refers back to «ces Yeux», and the past participle «aimantés» takes a plural masculine -s to agree with that preceding direct object. «sans doute» here is 'doubtless, surely' rather than literal 'without doubt' — the eyes draw him like a compass needle, charged by a knowing Angel.
3
They go on, those divine brothers who are my brothers,
4
Shaking into my eyes their diamond fires.
GrammarPresent participle «secouant» as a trailing clause «secouant» is the present participle of «secouer» (to shake): «Secouant dans mes yeux leurs feux diamantés» = 'shaking into my eyes their diamond fires', a participial phrase describing the Eyes as they 'march'. Note the deliberate play between «mes yeux» (my ordinary eyes, lower-case) and the «Yeux» that lead him. «diamantés» = 'set with diamonds, diamond-bright', the same -té ending as «aimantés» two lines up, binding magnet to gem.
5
Saving me from every snare and every grievous sin,
Word«piège» / «péché» — snare and sin «un piège» is a trap or snare; «un péché» is a sin, and «un péché grave» a 'grievous / mortal sin'. «Me sauvant de tout piège et de tout péché grave» = 'saving me from every snare and every grave sin'. The participle «sauvant» continues the chain of «-ant» phrases from the first stanza, the Eyes now cast as guardians; «tout ... tout» ('every ... every') makes the protection total.
6
They guide my steps along the road of the Beautiful;
Word«le Beau» — the Beautiful as an absolute «le Beau», the adjective 'beautiful' used as a capitalized noun, names Beauty as an ideal, an absolute — like «le Vrai» (the True) or «le Bien» (the Good). «la route du Beau» = 'the road of the Beautiful'. The Eyes lead him not to a person but toward this ideal, which is the governing aim of the whole section «Spleen et Idéal».
7
They are my servants and I am their slave;
8
My whole being obeys this living torch.
Grammar«obéir à» — obey takes «à» «obéir» governs its object with «à»: «obéir à quelque chose» = 'to obey something'. «Tout mon être obéit à ce vivant flambeau» = 'my whole being obeys this living torch'. The line names the poem's title — «ce vivant flambeau», 'this living torch' — and resolves the master/slave pair of the line above: the Eyes command, his whole being submits.
9
Enchanting Eyes, you shine with the mystic radiance
GrammarThe turn to direct address («vous») At the first tercet the poem turns from speaking about the Eyes («Ils...») to speaking to them: «Charmants Yeux, vous brillez» = 'Enchanting Eyes, you shine', the «vous» an apostrophe addressed straight to them. «briller de» = 'to shine with' (a quality or light): «brillez de la clarté mystique» = 'shine with the mystic radiance'. «la clarté» is brightness or limpid clearness, here 'mystic' — a sacred, otherworldly light.
10
That altar candles have as they burn in broad daylight; the sun
Word«un cierge» — a church candle «un cierge» is specifically a church or altar candle, a tall wax taper lit in worship — not the household «une bougie». «les cierges brûlant en plein jour» = 'the altar candles burning in broad daylight', «en plein jour» meaning 'in full day'. The relative «Qu'ont les cierges» inverts to put the verb «ont» ('have') before its subject «les cierges»: the candles 'have' that same mystic clarity. Their flame is invisible against daylight yet still burning — the simile makes the Eyes a devotional fire that sunlight cannot put out.
11
Reddens, but does not put out their fantastic flame;
Grammar«éteindre» — to extinguish, with «ne ... pas» «rougit» is from «rougir» (to redden, to blush); «éteint» is from «éteindre» (to put out, extinguish). The subject is «le soleil» carried over from the line above: «le soleil rougit, mais n'éteint pas leur flamme» = 'the sun reddens but does not put out their flame'. The enjambment runs the sentence across the line break, and «leur flamme fantastique» — 'their fantastic flame' — keeps the candle-fire image: even the sun only dims, never quenches, the Eyes' light.
12
They celebrate Death, you sing the Awakening;
13
You go on singing the awakening of my soul,
Grammar«en» + present participle — the gerund «en chantant» is the gerund: «en» plus the present participle, expressing a simultaneous action — 'while singing, by singing'. «Vous marchez en chantant le réveil de mon âme» = 'you go along singing the awakening of my soul'. Note that «le réveil» is now lower-case where «le Réveil» above was capitalized: the abstract Awakening has become his own particular waking, «de mon âme», 'of my soul'.
14
Stars whose flame no sun can wither!
Grammar«dont» as possessive relative; «flétrir» «dont» here means 'whose' — «Astres dont ... la flamme» = 'Stars whose flame'. Read in order: «nul soleil ne peut flétrir la flamme» = 'no sun can wither the flame', so the whole = 'Stars whose flame no sun can wither'. «nul ... ne» is the emphatic literary 'no / not any'. «flétrir» is 'to wither, to make fade' (as a flower); the Eyes, now hailed as «Astres» (stars), end the sonnet as a fire beyond the sun's power to fade — the answer to «le soleil rougit» of the first tercet.

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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