French · Spleen and Ideal

Le Revenant

The Revenant

14 lines · 8 notes

Tap a line to open its words.

1
Like the angels with the tawny eye,
Commelikecomme · prepositionpreposition marking anges
lesthele · determiner, pluraldeterminer of anges
angesangelsange · noun, masculine, pluralhead of the phrase
àwithà · prepositionpreposition marking oeil
l'thele · determiner, singulardeterminer of oeil
oeileyeoeil · noun, masculine, singularmodifies anges
fauvetawnyfauve · adjective, singularmodifies oeil
Word«fauve» — tawny, wild «fauve» names the yellow-brown of a lion's coat and, by extension, anything wild or predatory; «un fauve» is a big cat or beast of prey. «les anges à l'oeil fauve» = 'the angels with the tawny eye' — the construction «à + l'» attaches a defining feature ('the … one with…'). These are not gentle cherubs but the fallen, beast-eyed angels, and they set the menacing key for the whole poem.
2
I shall come back into your alcove
GrammarFuture of «revenir» — and the title «reviendrai» is the future of «revenir» (to come back, to return). The verb is the root of the title «le revenant» — literally 'the one who comes back', the French word for a ghost. The speaker promises a return from the dead: «Je reviendrai dans ton alcôve» = 'I shall come back into your alcove'. «une alcôve» is the recessed bed-niche of a bedchamber, a charged, intimate space.
3
And toward you shall glide without a sound
GrammarFronted phrase before the verb Read straight, this is «et glisserai sans bruit vers toi» — '(I) shall glide silently toward you'. The verse fronts «vers toi» ('toward you') ahead of the verb «glisserai» (future of «glisser», to glide, to slip) for rhythm and menace. The subject «je» is carried over from the line above and not repeated, as French verse often allows.
4
With the shadows of the night;
5
And I shall give you, my dark one,
Word«ma brune» — my dark-haired one «brun / brune» means brown-haired or dark; used as a noun, «ma brune» is an affectionate 'my dark-haired girl', addressed to the beloved (the same dark-haired mistress who haunts this cycle of poems). The tenderness of the address sits against the cold gifts to come — «des baisers froids comme la lune» in the next line.
6
Kisses cold as the moon
7
And the caresses of a serpent
8
Crawling around a grave.
GrammarPresent participle «rampant» «rampant» is the present participle of «ramper» (to crawl, to slither), describing the serpent of the line above: «des caresses de serpent / Autour d'une fosse rampant» = 'the caresses of a serpent crawling around a grave'. «une fosse» is a pit or grave. The participle is held to the very end of the stanza, leaving the image of the crawling snake to close on the open grave.
9
When the livid morning comes,
GrammarFuture after «quand» + inversion French puts the future tense after «quand» where English keeps the present: «Quand viendra le matin» = 'When the morning comes' (literally 'when will come the morning'). The verb «viendra» (future of «venir») is inverted ahead of its subject «le matin livide» for the verse. «livide» means ghastly pale, ashen — the dawn itself wears the pallor of a corpse.
10
You will find my place empty,
11
Where until evening it will be cold.
GrammarImpersonal «il fait froid» «il fait froid» is the fixed impersonal expression for 'it is cold' (of weather), with «il» a dummy subject naming no one; «il fera froid» is its future, 'it will be cold'. «Où jusqu'au soir il fera froid» = 'where, until evening, it will be cold' — the empty side of the bed stays cold all day, the chill of the absent ghost left behind in the warm world.
12
As others rule by tenderness,
13
Over your life and over your youth,
14
I mean to reign through dread.
Word«l'effroi» — dread, terror «l'effroi» is dread, terror — a deeper, colder word than «la peur» (fear). «régner par l'effroi» = 'to reign through dread / to rule by terror'. The whole sonnet folds into this last line, set off by the emphatic «Moi, je» ('As for me, I…'): where others would win love by «la tendresse» (tenderness), this returning ghost chooses to rule the beloved through fear instead.

The particulars

The text: Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire. Spleen and Ideal.
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
Data: JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents