French · Spleen and Ideal

Le Possédé

The Possessed One

14 lines · 14 notes

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1
The sun has wrapped itself in a veil of crape. Like it,
Lethele · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of soleil
soleilsunsoleil · noun, masculine, singularsubject of couvert
s'itselfse · pronoun, reflexivereflexive particle of couvert
esthasêtre · auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singulardepends on couvert
couvertwrappedcouvrir · verb, past, participle, masculine, singularmain verb of the sentence
d'inde · prepositionpreposition marking crêpe
unaun · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of crêpe
crêpeveil of crapecrêpe · noun, masculine, singulardepends on couvert
Commelikecomme · subordinating conjunctionintroduces comparison with lui
luiitlui · pronoun, masculine, singularobject of comparison (Comme lui), referring to soleil
Grammar«se couvrir» — pronominal verb in the passé composé «s'est couvert» is the passé composé of the pronominal verb «se couvrir» (to cover oneself, to cloud over): «Le soleil s'est couvert» = 'the sun has covered itself / has clouded over'. Pronominal verbs take «être» in compound tenses, so the auxiliary is «est», not «a». «un crêpe» here is funeral crape — the black mourning gauze hung over a face or a hearse — so the sun is in mourning from the first line.
2
O Moon of my life! bundle yourself up in shadow,
Grammar«s'emmitoufler» — reflexive imperative «emmitoufle-toi» is the affirmative «tu» imperative of the pronominal verb «s'emmitoufler» (to wrap or muffle oneself up, as against the cold). In the affirmative imperative the reflexive pronoun follows the verb and «te» becomes the stressed «toi», joined by a hyphen: «emmitoufle-toi» = 'wrap yourself up'. «d'ombre» names what she is to bundle into — shadow — so the command is to swaddle herself in darkness.
3
Sleep or smoke as you please; be mute, be dark,
Grammar«sois» — irregular imperative of «être» «sois» is the «tu» imperative of «être» (to be), used here twice: «sois muette, sois sombre» = 'be mute, be dark'. «à ton gré» is a fixed phrase meaning 'as you please, to your liking'. The stacked imperatives — «Dors», «fume», «sois», «sois» — turn the whole stanza into one long string of commands, the lover telling his Moon to do as she likes so long as she stays gloomy.
4
And plunge entirely into the gulf of Boredom;
Word«l'Ennui» — capitalized 'Spleen' «l'Ennui», capitalized, is far stronger than English 'boredom': it is the leaden, despairing tedium Baudelaire elsewhere calls «le Spleen», the great enemy of the whole section «Spleen et Idéal». «un gouffre» is an abyss or chasm; «plonge tout entière au gouffre» = 'plunge whole into the abyss'. «tout entière» — 'wholly, entirely' — agrees in the feminine with the Moon being addressed.
5
I love you so! And yet, if today you wish,
6
Like an eclipsed star coming out of the half-light,
Word«la pénombre» — half-shadow, penumbra «la pénombre» is the soft half-light between full shadow and full light — the astronomical 'penumbra' around an eclipse. «un astre éclipsé qui sort de la pénombre» = 'an eclipsed star emerging from the half-shadow'. The simile turns on the same eclipse imagery as the opening: having ordered his Moon into darkness, the lover now imagines her stepping back out of it to shine.
7
To go strutting in the haunts that Folly crowds,
Word«se pavaner» — to strut, to show off «se pavaner» means to strut or parade oneself proudly — literally to spread out like a «paon» (peacock). «Te pavaner» is its infinitive completing «si tu veux … te pavaner» = 'if you wish … to go strutting'. «les lieux que la Folie encombre» = 'the places that Madness clutters / crowds'; «encombrer» is to clutter or obstruct, and «la Folie», capitalized, personifies Madness as the throng filling those haunts.
8
So be it! Charming dagger, leap from your sheath!
Grammar«jaillir» — to spurt, spring, leap out «jaillis» is the «tu» imperative of «jaillir» (to gush, spurt, spring forth): «jaillis de ton étui» = 'leap out of your sheath'. The beloved is now addressed as a «poignard» (dagger) lying in its «étui» (case, sheath) — a startling image that fuses desire and violence and ends the octave on a command to strike.
9
Light your eye at the flame of the chandeliers!
Word«la prunelle» — the pupil of the eye «la prunelle» is the pupil of the eye (literally the 'sloe', for its dark round shape), often standing by extension for the whole gaze. «Allume» is the «tu» imperative of «allumer» (to light, to kindle): «Allume ta prunelle à la flamme des lustres» = 'kindle your eye at the flame of the chandeliers'. «les lustres» are hanging crystal chandeliers — the lights of the ballroom or the haunts of «la Folie» above.
10
Light desire in the stares of the boors!
Word«un rustre» — a boor, a lout «un rustre» is a coarse, uncouth man — a boor or lout (from the same root as 'rustic'). «Allume le désir dans les regards des rustres» = 'kindle desire in the stares of the boors'. The repeated imperative «Allume … Allume» makes a deliberate, scornful command: the lover urges his Moon to inflame even these brutes, his jealousy curdled into a dare.
11
Everything of you is pleasure to me, morbid or impetuous;
Grammar«m'est» — indirect object with «être» «Tout de toi m'est plaisir» = 'everything of you is pleasure to me'. «m'» is the indirect-object pronoun «me» ('to me') leaning on «est» (from «être»), an elegant compression of «est un plaisir pour moi». «morbide ou pétulant» ('morbid or impetuous') hangs back as a paired qualifier of «Tout» — whichever mood she shows, sickly or unruly, it delights him.
12
Be what you will, black night, red dawn;
Grammar«ce que» + future of «vouloir» «ce que» is the relative 'what / that which' (object form); «tu voudras» is the future of «vouloir» (to want), so «Sois ce que tu voudras» = 'be whatever you will want to be'. French uses the plain future here where English would lean on 'will'. The contrast «nuit noire, rouge aurore» — black night, red dawn — sets her two extremes in apposition, the lover granting her either pole.
13
There is not one fibre in all my trembling body
Grammar«il n'est pas» — literary 'there is not' «il n'est pas une fibre» uses «être» impersonally for «il n'y a pas» ('there is not'), a heightened, literary turn: 'there is not a single fibre'. It sets up a double negative with «Qui ne crie» on the next line — 'not one fibre … that does not cry out' — i.e. every fibre cries out. «en tout mon corps tremblant» = 'in all my trembling body'.
14
That does not cry: O my dear Beelzebub, I adore you!
GrammarSubjunctive-style «ne» after a negated antecedent «Qui ne crie» continues «Il n'est pas une fibre … qui ne crie» — 'there is not one fibre that does not cry out'. This is a double negation forming a litotes: «il n'est pas une fibre» (main negative) + «qui ne crie» (relative negative) = 'there is not one fibre that does NOT cry' = every fibre cries. Both «ne» forms carry real negative force; neither is expletive. The whole body's cry — «Ô mon cher Belzébuth, je t'adore!» — names the beloved as Beelzebub and closes the sonnet on adoration of the devil.
Word«Belzébuth» — Beelzebub «Belzébuth» is Beelzebub, the «prince des démons» of the Gospels (from Hebrew Ba'al-zebub, 'lord of the flies'), a name long used for the Devil himself. The 'possessed' lover ends by hailing his beloved as this demon and crying «je t'adore» — adoring her exactly as one would worship a god, which is the blasphemy the title «Le Possédé» (a man possessed by a devil) has promised all along.

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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