French · Revolt

Le Reniement de saint Pierre

The Denial of Saint Peter

32 lines · 15 notes

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1
What, then, does God do with this flood of curses
Qu'whatque · pronoun, interrogativepart of the interrogative phrase qu'est-ce que ('what')
"Qu'est-ce que" is a fixed interrogative phrase meaning 'what'.
estisêtre · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularpart of the interrogative phrase qu'est-ce que
-ceitce · pronoun, singularpart of the interrogative phrase qu'est-ce que
quethatque · complementizerintroduces the clause Dieu fait
DieuGodDieu · proper nounsubject of fait
faitdoesfaire · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
doncthendonc · adverbmodifies fait
dewithde · prepositionpreposition marking flot
cethisce · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of flot
flotfloodflot · noun, masculine, singularoblique argument of fait
d'ofde · prepositionpreposition marking anathèmes
anathèmescursesanathème · noun, masculine, pluralmodifies flot
Wordanathème (m.) «anathème» is a curse or solemn condemnation, originally an ecclesiastical excommunication. Baudelaire turns it back against heaven: the «flot d'anathèmes» is the daily tide of human blasphemy rising toward God.
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That rises every day toward his dear Seraphim?
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Like a tyrant gorged with meat and wines,
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He falls asleep to the sweet sound of our hideous blasphemies.
GrammarReflexive: s'endormir «s'endormir» is the pronominal verb 'to fall asleep'. The reflexive «se» marks the change of state happening to the subject; «il s'endort» = 'he drifts off to sleep'.
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The sobs of the martyrs and of the tortured
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Are an intoxicating symphony, no doubt,
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Since, despite the blood their pleasure costs,
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The heavens have not yet had their fill of it!
GrammarEmphatic negation + the pronoun «en» «ne ... point» is a literary negation stronger than «ne ... pas». «se rassasier de» = 'to have one's fill of'; the pronoun «en» stands in for 'of it' (the blood and sobs), so «ne s'en sont point rassasiés» = 'have not had their fill of it at all'.
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— Ah! Jesus, remember the Garden of Olives!
GrammarImperative of «se souvenir» «se souvenir de» = 'to remember'. In the affirmative imperative the reflexive pronoun follows the verb and «te» becomes «toi»: «souviens-toi de» = 'remember'. The «de» links to «du Jardin des Olives» (de + le = du).
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In your simplicity you prayed on your knees
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To the One who in his heaven laughed at the sound of the nails
GrammarCelui qui = 'the one who' «celui» is the masculine demonstrative pronoun 'the one'; with «qui» it means 'the one who'. It is the object of «tu priais» in the preceding line — Jesus prayed 'to the One who ... laughed'. Capitalized in translation because it points to God the Father.
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That vile executioners drove into your living flesh,
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When you saw them spit upon your divinity
GrammarPast historic of «voir» «vis» is the «passé simple» (literary past tense) of «voir», 'to see' — here 'you saw'. The whole address to Christ is told in this narrative past, which lends it the distance of scripture rather than conversation.
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The rabble of the guardroom and the kitchens,
Wordcrapule (f.) «crapule» is a collective noun for a mob of low, debauched people — 'the rabble, the scum'. It is the subject of «cracher» ('to spit') in the line above: the dregs of the barracks and kitchens are who spit on him.
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And when you felt the thorns sink in
GrammarPerception verb + infinitive A verb of perception like «sentir» ('to feel') takes a bare infinitive for what is perceived: «tu sentis s'enfoncer les épines» = 'you felt the thorns sink in'. «s'enfoncer» is the reflexive 'to drive itself in, to sink in'.
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Into your skull where vast Humanity lived;
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When the horrible heaviness of your broken body
GrammarPoetic word order Prose order would be «la pesanteur horrible de ton corps brisé». Baudelaire fronts the complement «de ton corps brisé» ('of your broken body') before its noun «la pesanteur» ('the heaviness') for meter; read it as one noun phrase, subject of «allongeait» in the next line.
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Stretched out your two outspread arms, while your blood
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And your sweat ran down from your paling brow,
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When before everyone you were set up like a target,
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Were you dreaming of those days so bright and so fair
GrammarInversion for a question Subject-verb inversion («Rêvais-tu» for «tu rêvais») poses the question: 'Were you dreaming...?'. This one question runs across stanzas 6–7 — the long clauses introduced by «Où» ('when, on which') all hang on it before the question mark finally lands.
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When you came to fulfill the eternal promise,
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When you trod, mounted on a gentle she-donkey,
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Roads all strewn with flowers and with boughs,
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When, your heart all swollen with hope and valor,
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You whipped all those vile merchants with all your might,
WordIdiom: à tour de bras «à tour de bras» = 'with all one's strength, with full swings of the arm'. The line recalls Christ driving the money-changers from the Temple — the one moment of action and mastery the speaker dwells on.
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When you were master at last? Has remorse not
GrammarNegative question with inversion «n'a-t-il pas ... ?» = 'has it not ... ?'. The «-t-» is a euphonic insert between two vowels in inversion. A negative question like this expects the answer 'yes' — it presses the claim that remorse has indeed pierced him.
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Pierced into your side deeper than the lance?
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— Certainly, for my part, I shall depart satisfied
Wordquant à «quant à» = 'as for, as regards'; «quant à moi» = 'as for me, for my part'. The second em-dash hands the poem to the speaker's own voice for the closing verdict.
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From a world where action is not the sister of the dream;
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Would that I might wield the sword and perish by the sword!
GrammarSubjunctive of wish: «Puissé-je» «Puissé-je» is an inverted present subjunctive of «pouvoir», a fixed literary formula for a wish: 'may I be able to, would that I might'. «user de» = 'to make use of, to wield'; the line echoes the Gospel's 'all who take the sword shall perish by the sword'.
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Saint Peter denied Jesus... he did well!
Wordrenier «renier» = 'to disown, to deny, to repudiate' — used of denying one's faith or one's master. The title and final line both turn on it: Peter's three-fold denial of Christ, which the blasphemous speaker chooses to applaud.

The particulars

The text: Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire. Revolt.
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
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