{"work":{"slug":"baudelaire","title":{"source":"Les Fleurs du mal","translated":"The Flowers of Evil"},"author":"Charles Baudelaire","language":"French","languageCode":"fr","url":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire"},"unit":{"kind":"poem","number":null,"id":"le-mauvais-moine","title":{"source":"Le Mauvais Moine","translated":"The Bad Monk"},"section":"Spleen and Ideal","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/le-mauvais-moine","lines":14},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/la-muse-venale","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/l-ennemi","license":"Source text: public domain (Charles Baudelaire, d. 1867). English translation: © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC — original draft, pending editorial review.","audioBase":null,"lines":[{"number":1,"label":"1","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s1-l1","source":"Les cloîtres anciens sur leurs grandes murailles","translation":"The ancient cloisters, upon their great walls,","stanza":1,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"les cloîtres","title":"«le cloître» — cloister and monastery","body":"«le cloître» is both the covered walkway round a monastery courtyard and, by extension, the monastic life or the monastery itself. The circumflex on «cloître» marks a long-lost «s» (compare the English 'cloister'). «les murailles» are massive defensive walls — heavier and more fortress-like than ordinary «murs», fitting for the great medieval houses the poem conjures."}],"words":[{"surface":"Les","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of cloîtres","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"cloîtres","lemma":"cloître","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"cloisters"},{"surface":"anciens","lemma":"ancien","morphology":"adjective, masculine, plural","role":"modifies cloîtres","gloss":"ancient"},{"surface":"sur","lemma":"sur","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking murailles","gloss":"on"},{"surface":"leurs","lemma":"leur","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of murailles","gloss":"their"},{"surface":"grandes","lemma":"grand","morphology":"adjective, feminine, plural","role":"modifies murailles","gloss":"great"},{"surface":"murailles","lemma":"muraille","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"modifies cloîtres","gloss":"walls"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s1-l2","source":"Etalaient en tableaux la sainte Vérité,","translation":"Spread out in painted tableaux the holy Truth,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Etalaient","title":"Imperfect «étalaient» and the capital with no accent","body":"«étalaient» is the imperfect of «étaler» (to spread out, display), the tense of habitual, scene-setting past action — the cloisters 'used to display'. The word opens with «É» but is printed «Etalaient»: nineteenth-century typography routinely dropped accents on capitals, so the bare «E» is period spelling, not an error. «Vérité» is capitalized to mark it as an allegory — Truth itself, painted on the wall."}],"words":[{"surface":"Etalaient","lemma":"étaler","morphology":"verb, imperfect, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"spread out"},{"surface":"en","lemma":"en","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking tableaux","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"tableaux","lemma":"tableau","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"oblique argument of Etalaient","gloss":"tableaux"},{"surface":"la","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of Vérité","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"sainte","lemma":"saint","morphology":"adjective, feminine, singular","role":"modifies Vérité","gloss":"holy"},{"surface":"Vérité","lemma":"vérité","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"direct object of Etalaient","gloss":"Truth"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s1-l3","source":"Dont l'effet réchauffant les pieuses entrailles,","translation":"Whose effect, warming the pious innards,","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Dont","lemma":"dont","morphology":"pronoun","role":"modifies effet","gloss":"whose"},{"surface":"l'","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of effet","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"effet","lemma":"effet","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"subject of Tempérait","gloss":"effect"},{"surface":"réchauffant","lemma":"réchauffer","morphology":"verb, present, participle","role":"clause modifying effet","gloss":"warming"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of entrailles","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"pieuses","lemma":"pieux","morphology":"adjective, feminine, plural","role":"modifies entrailles","gloss":"pious"},{"surface":"entrailles","lemma":"entraille","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"direct object of réchauffant","gloss":"innards"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s1-l4","source":"Tempérait la froideur de leur austérité.","translation":"Tempered the coldness of their austerity.","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Tempérait","lemma":"tempérer","morphology":"verb, imperfect, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"tempered"},{"surface":"la","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of froideur","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"froideur","lemma":"froideur","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"direct object of Tempérait","gloss":"coldness"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking austérité","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"leur","lemma":"leur","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of austérité","gloss":"their"},{"surface":"austérité","lemma":"austérité","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"modifies froideur","gloss":"austerity"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s2-l1","source":"En ces temps où du Christ florissaient les semailles,","translation":"In those days when the sowing of Christ flourished,","stanza":2,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"florissaient les semailles","title":"Verb-before-subject inversion","body":"Normal prose order would be «les semailles du Christ florissaient». Here the subject «les semailles» is held back until after its verb «florissaient» (imperfect of «fleurir», to flower / flourish), a poetic inversion that also serves the alexandrine and the rhyme. «les semailles» literally means 'the sowing(s)' — the seed of faith scattered in the early Church, a Gospel image of the word planted in the world."}],"words":[{"surface":"En","lemma":"en","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking temps","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"ces","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of temps","gloss":"those"},{"surface":"temps","lemma":"temps","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"days"},{"surface":"où","lemma":"où","morphology":"adverb","role":"introduces relative clause modifying temps","gloss":"when"},{"surface":"du","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking Christ","gloss":"of the"},{"surface":"Christ","lemma":"Christ","morphology":"proper noun","role":"modifies semailles","gloss":"Christ"},{"surface":"florissaient","lemma":"fleurir","morphology":"verb, imperfect, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"verb of the où-clause (subject: semailles)","gloss":"flourished"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of semailles","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"semailles","lemma":"semailles","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"subject of florissaient","gloss":"sowing"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s2-l2","source":"Plus d'un illustre moine, aujourd'hui peu cité,","translation":"More than one illustrious monk, little cited today,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Plus d'un","title":"«plus d'un» takes a singular","body":"«plus d'un» ('more than one') governs a singular noun and verb in French — «plus d'un illustre moine ... glorifiait» — even though it means several. The phrasing keeps each forgotten monk an individual rather than a crowd. «peu cité» = 'seldom quoted / little spoken of now', setting the vanished devotion of the past against the poet's barren present."}],"words":[{"surface":"Plus","lemma":"plus","morphology":"adverb","role":"part of the idiom plus d'un (more than one)","gloss":"more"},{"surface":"d'","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"part of the idiom plus d'un","gloss":"than"},{"surface":"un","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of moine","gloss":"one"},{"surface":"illustre","lemma":"illustre","morphology":"adjective, singular","role":"modifies moine","gloss":"illustrious"},{"surface":"moine","lemma":"moine","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"subject of Glorifiait","gloss":"monk"},{"surface":"aujourd'hui","lemma":"aujourd'hui","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies cité","gloss":"today"},{"surface":"peu","lemma":"peu","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies cité","gloss":"little"},{"surface":"cité","lemma":"cité","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies moine","gloss":"cited"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s2-l3","source":"Prenant pour atelier le champ des funérailles,","translation":"Taking the field of funerals for his workshop,","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Prenant","lemma":"prendre","morphology":"verb, present, participle","role":"participial clause modifying moine (subject of Glorifiait in the next line)","gloss":"taking"},{"surface":"pour","lemma":"pour","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking atelier","gloss":"as"},{"surface":"atelier","lemma":"atelier","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"depends on Prenant","gloss":"workshop"},{"surface":"le","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of champ","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"champ","lemma":"champ","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"direct object of Prenant","gloss":"field"},{"surface":"des","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking funérailles","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"funérailles","lemma":"funéraille","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"modifies champ","gloss":"funerals"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s2-l4","source":"Glorifiait la Mort avec simplicité.","translation":"Glorified Death with simplicity.","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Glorifiait","lemma":"glorifier","morphology":"verb, imperfect, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"glorified"},{"surface":"la","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of Mort","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"Mort","lemma":"mort","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"direct object of Glorifiait","gloss":"Death"},{"surface":"avec","lemma":"avec","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking simplicité","gloss":"with"},{"surface":"simplicité","lemma":"simplicité","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"modifies Mort","gloss":"simplicity"}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s3-l1","source":"— Mon âme est un tombeau que, mauvais cénobite,","translation":"— My soul is a tomb that, a bad cenobite,","stanza":3,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"cénobite","title":"«le cénobite» — a monk of the community","body":"A «cénobite» (from Greek 'koinos bios', common life) is a monk who lives in a community under a rule, as opposed to a hermit. The poet casts himself as a «mauvais cénobite» — a bad one — turning the historical monastery of the octave inward: his own soul is now the cloister, and he is its delinquent inmate. The em-dash «—» opening the tercet marks the turn from description to the speaker's first-person lament."}],"words":[{"surface":"Mon","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of âme","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"âme","lemma":"âme","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"subject of est","gloss":"soul"},{"surface":"est","lemma":"être","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"copula linking to tombeau","gloss":"is"},{"surface":"un","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of tombeau","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"tombeau","lemma":"tombeau","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"tomb"},{"surface":"que","lemma":"que","morphology":"relative pronoun","role":"direct object of parcours/habite, refers to tombeau","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"mauvais","lemma":"mauvais","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies cénobite","gloss":"bad"},{"surface":"cénobite","lemma":"cénobite","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"in apposition to the implied subject je","gloss":"cenobite"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s3-l2","source":"Depuis l'éternité je parcours et j'habite;","translation":"Since all eternity I roam and inhabit;","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"je parcours et j'habite","title":"Two verbs sharing one object «que»","body":"The relative pronoun «que» at the end of line s3-l1 is the direct object of both verbs here: the tomb that I both «parcours» (roam, walk the length of, from «parcourir») and «j'habite» (inhabit, dwell in). «Depuis l'éternité» — 'since / for all eternity' — uses «depuis» for duration up to the present, stretching the soul's imprisonment across endless time."}],"words":[{"surface":"Depuis","lemma":"depuis","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking éternité","gloss":"since"},{"surface":"l'","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of éternité","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"éternité","lemma":"éternité","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"depends on parcours","gloss":"eternity"},{"surface":"je","lemma":"je","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of parcours","gloss":"I"},{"surface":"parcours","lemma":"parcourir","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"roam"},{"surface":"et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"j'","lemma":"je","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of habite","gloss":"I"},{"surface":"habite","lemma":"habiter","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, singular","role":"coordinated with parcours","gloss":"inhabit"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s3-l3","source":"Rien n'embellit les murs de ce cloître odieux.","translation":"Nothing adorns the walls of this hateful cloister.","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Rien","lemma":"rien","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of embellit","gloss":"nothing"},{"surface":"n'","lemma":"ne","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies embellit","gloss":"not"},{"surface":"embellit","lemma":"embellir","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"adorns"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of murs","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"murs","lemma":"mur","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"direct object of embellit","gloss":"walls"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking cloître","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"ce","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of cloître","gloss":"this"},{"surface":"cloître","lemma":"cloître","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"modifies murs","gloss":"cloister"},{"surface":"odieux","lemma":"odieux","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies cloître","gloss":"hateful"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s4-l1","source":"Ô moine fainéant! quand saurai-je donc faire","translation":"O slothful monk! when, then, shall I learn to make","stanza":4,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"quand saurai-je donc faire","title":"«savoir faire» and the inverted future","body":"«saurai-je» is the future of «savoir» (to know / know how) with the subject «je» inverted after the verb to form a question — literary and emphatic. «savoir faire» here means 'to know how to / manage to make', so «quand saurai-je faire» = 'when will I manage to make'. «donc» is again the insistent particle, not 'therefore' but 'then, on earth': 'when on earth will I learn to make...?'. «fainéant» (do-nothing, idle) brands the poet a sluggard in his own monastery of the soul."}],"words":[{"surface":"Ô","lemma":"ô","morphology":"interjection","role":"exclamation marking moine","gloss":"O"},{"surface":"moine","lemma":"moine","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"head of the phrase (vocative)","gloss":"monk"},{"surface":"fainéant","lemma":"fainéant","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies moine","gloss":"slothful"},{"surface":"quand","lemma":"quand","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"introduces the clause of saurai","gloss":"when"},{"surface":"saurai","lemma":"savoir","morphology":"verb, future, indicative, first-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"shall know how"},{"surface":"-je","lemma":"je","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of saurai","gloss":"I"},{"surface":"donc","lemma":"donc","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies saurai","gloss":"then"},{"surface":"faire","lemma":"faire","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"complement of saurai","gloss":"to make"}]},{"number":13,"label":"13","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s4-l2","source":"Du spectacle vivant de ma triste misère","translation":"Out of the living spectacle of my sad misery","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Du","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking spectacle","gloss":"out of"},{"surface":"spectacle","lemma":"spectacle","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of faire","gloss":"spectacle"},{"surface":"vivant","lemma":"vivre","morphology":"verb, present, participle","role":"modifies spectacle","gloss":"living"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking misère","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"ma","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of misère","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"triste","lemma":"triste","morphology":"adjective, singular","role":"modifies misère","gloss":"sad"},{"surface":"misère","lemma":"misère","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"depends on spectacle","gloss":"misery"}]},{"number":14,"label":"14","id":"le-mauvais-moine-s4-l3","source":"Le travail de mes mains et l'amour de mes yeux?","translation":"The labor of my hands and the love of my eyes?","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"faire du ... le travail","title":"«faire de X, Y» — to make Y out of X","body":"The closing question runs across three lines in the pattern «faire de [X] [Y]» — 'to make Y out of / from X'. Here X is «Du spectacle vivant de ma triste misère» (the living spectacle of my sad misery) and Y is «Le travail de mes mains et l'amour de mes yeux» (the labor of my hands and the love of my eyes). The poet asks when he will at last turn his wretchedness into art — make his own suffering the work that the old monks made of Death."}],"words":[{"surface":"Le","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of travail","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"travail","lemma":"travail","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"direct object of faire (cf. Du spectacle..., oblique argument of faire, in the previous line)","gloss":"labor"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking mains","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"mes","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of mains","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"mains","lemma":"main","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"modifies travail","gloss":"hands"},{"surface":"et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"l'","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of amour","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"amour","lemma":"amour","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"coordinated with travail","gloss":"love"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking yeux","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"mes","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of yeux","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"yeux","lemma":"oeil","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"modifies amour","gloss":"eyes"}]}]}