French · Spleen and Ideal

Le Tonneau de la haine

The Cask of Hatred

14 lines · 11 notes

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1
Hatred is the cask of the pale Danaids;
Lathele · determiner, feminine, singulardeterminer of Haine
HaineHatredhaine · noun, feminine, singularsubject of tonneau
estisêtre · auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularcopula linking to tonneau
lethele · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of tonneau
tonneaucasktonneau · noun, masculine, singularhead of the phrase
desof thede · prepositionpreposition marking Danaïdes
pâlespalepâle · adjective, pluralmodifies Danaïdes
DanaïdesDanaidsDanaïdes · proper noun, feminine, pluralmodifies tonneau
2
Vengeance, frantic, with red and powerful arms,
Word«éperdu» — distraught, frantic «éperdu(e)» means 'frantic, distraught, beside oneself' — overwhelmed by emotion to the point of losing control. It agrees in the feminine with «la Vengeance». The personified Vengeance, with her «bras rouges et forts» ('red and strong arms'), is a tireless laundress or water-bearer, arms reddened by the endless, useless labour the next lines describe.
3
may hurl in vain into its empty darkness
Grammar«avoir beau» + infinitive — 'to do in vain' This is the idiom «avoir beau faire quelque chose», 'to do something in vain, no matter how hard one tries'. The subject is «La Vengeance» from line 2, so «À beau précipiter» = 'however much she hurls down…'. «précipiter» here is transitive, 'to throw down headlong, to cast'; «les ténèbres» is the poetic plural for 'darkness, the dark'.
4
great buckets full of the blood and the tears of the dead,
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the Demon bores secret holes in these abysses,
Word«un abîme» — an abyss, a chasm «un abîme» is a 'gulf, abyss, bottomless depth'. The plural «ces abîmes» points back to the cask itself, now imagined as fathomless pits. The Demon punching «des trous secrets» ('secret holes') in them explains why the labour is hopeless: whatever Vengeance pours in drains away unseen.
6
through which a thousand years of sweat and toil would leak away,
Grammar«fuir» = to leak; conditional + inversion Besides 'to flee', «fuir» means 'to leak, to seep away' (a barrel, a pipe). «fuiraient» is the conditional, hinging on the hypothetical of the previous line — through these holes a thousand years of effort 'would drain away'. Note the poetic inversion: the verb «fuiraient» comes before its subject «mille ans de sueurs et d'efforts».
7
even if she could bring her victims back to life,
Grammar«quand même» + conditional — 'even if' «quand même» followed by the conditional means 'even if, even supposing that'. «elle» is Vengeance; «saurait» is the conditional of «savoir», which before an infinitive means 'to be able to, to manage to'. So: 'even if she were able to revive her victims' — a concession setting up the grim purpose in the next line.
8
and resurrect their bodies in order to wring them dry.
Word«pressurer» — to press, to squeeze dry «pressurer» means 'to press' as one presses grapes or olives, hence 'to squeeze dry, to wring the last drop out of'. The purpose clause «pour les pressurer» governs «ressusciter leurs corps» ('to resurrect their bodies'): Vengeance would raise the dead only to crush them again for more blood and tears — and still the cask would not fill.
9
Hatred is a drunkard at the back of a tavern,
Word«un ivrogne» — a drunkard «un ivrogne» is a 'drunkard, a habitual drunk'. The sonnet's turn (the «volta») swaps the mythic cask for a low tavern scene: Hatred is now a sot slumped «au fond d'une taverne» ('at the back of a tavern'), the same insatiable thirst dressed in squalid, everyday clothes.
10
who always feels his thirst born anew from the drink
Grammar«sentir» + infinitive of perception «sentir» ('to feel') followed by a bare infinitive is a perception construction: «sent... la soif naître» = 'feels thirst be born, feels his thirst springing up'. The paradox is the point — the more he drinks «la liqueur» (here 'liquor, strong drink'), the more the thirst is reborn, never quenched.
11
and multiply itself like the Hydra of Lerna.
12
— But happy drinkers know their conqueror,
Word«le buveur» and «le vainqueur» «un buveur» is 'a drinker'; «un vainqueur» is 'a victor, a conqueror'. The em-dash marks the final reversal: ordinary «buveurs heureux» ('happy drinkers') at least know the wine that beats them — drink finally lays them out. Hatred, by contrast, never gets that mercy, as the closing lines explain.
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and Hatred is doomed to this lamentable fate
Grammar«être voué à» — to be doomed to «vouer» means 'to dedicate, to consecrate'; in the passive «être voué à» it means 'to be doomed, condemned, destined to'. «vouée» agrees with the feminine «la Haine». «un sort» is 'a fate, a lot'. The construction hands down the sentence: Hatred is bound over to a pitiable destiny, spelled out by the final line.
14
of never being able to fall asleep beneath the table.
Grammar«s'endormir» — the pronominal 'to fall asleep' «s'endormir» is the pronominal verb 'to fall asleep, to drop off'; the reflexive «s'» is built in. In the negated infinitive «ne... jamais s'endormir» the «jamais» wraps around it, 'never to fall asleep'. The wretched fate is precisely this: unlike a real drunk who passes out «sous la table» ('under the table'), Hatred drinks forever and can never find the oblivion of sleep.

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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