French · Spleen and Ideal

Le Vampire

The Vampire

24 lines · 18 notes

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1
You who, like a knife-thrust,
Toiyoutoi · pronoun, singularhead of the phrase (antecedent of qui)
quiwhoqui · pronounsubject of entrée (two lines down)
commelikecomme · prepositionpreposition marking coup
unaun · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of coup
coupthrustcoup · noun, masculine, singularobject of comme
deofde · prepositionpreposition marking couteau
couteauknifecouteau · noun, masculine, singularmodifies coup
Word«un coup de couteau» — a knife-thrust «un coup de» names a single blow or stroke struck with something: «un coup de couteau» = 'a stab, a knife-thrust' (compare «un coup de poing», a punch). The poem opens by hailing the beloved directly with «Toi qui» ('You who'), and this first simile fixes her arrival in the heart as a wound — violence before tenderness, the keynote of the whole address.
2
Entered my plaintive heart;
Grammar«être» auxiliary + feminine agreement «entrer» forms its «passé composé» with «être», not «avoir»: «es entrée» = '(you) have entered'. Because the auxiliary is «être», the past participle agrees with the subject — the feminine «-e» on «entrée» tells us the addressee is a woman. Read in order: «Toi qui … dans mon coeur plaintif es entrée» — 'You who entered my plaintive heart'.
3
You who, strong as a herd
4
Of demons, came, mad and bedecked,
Grammar«vins» — «passé simple» of «venir» «vins» is the literary «passé simple» of «venir» (to come), second person singular: 'you came'. The subject is still the «Toi qui» of the line above, so «forte comme un troupeau de démons, vins, folle et parée» = 'you who, strong as a herd of demons, came, mad and decked out'. «parée» (past participle of «parer», to adorn) again carries the feminine «-e»; «folle» is the feminine of «fou» (mad).
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Out of my humiliated spirit
6
To make your bed and your domain;
GrammarInfinitive of purpose after «vins» The bare infinitive «Faire» depends on «vins» two lines back — 'you came … to make'. «De mon esprit humilié / Faire ton lit» fronts the object «De mon esprit humilié» ('out of my humbled spirit') before the verb, an inversion the verse allows: read straight, 'to make of my humbled spirit your bed and your domain'. The vampire moves in and takes possession of the soul she has wounded.
7
— Vile one, to whom I am bound
Word«infâme» — vile, infamous «infâme» (from Latin «infamis», 'of ill repute') means 'vile, loathsome, infamous'; used as a noun here it names the beloved directly — 'O vile one'. The em-dash that opens the line breaks off the long opening address to turn on her, and «à qui je suis lié» ('to whom I am bound') launches the chain of binding similes that fills the next stanza. «lié» is the past participle of «lier», to tie or bind.
8
As the convict to his chain,
Word«le forçat» — the galley-slave, convict «un forçat» is a convict sentenced to hard labour, historically a galley-slave or chain-gang prisoner; «la chaîne» is the chain that shackles him. «lié … comme le forçat à la chaîne» = 'bound … as the convict to his chain'. It is the first of four «comme» similes that liken the speaker's helpless attachment to every form of compulsion — penal, then addictive, then carrion.
9
As to the game the stubborn gambler,
GrammarElliptical «comme» similes These lines drop the verb and rely on the «lié … comme» of the stanza before: «comme au jeu le joueur têtu» = '(bound) as the stubborn gambler is to the game'. «au» is «à + le» ('to the'), «le jeu» is gambling or play, «têtu» means 'stubborn, headstrong'. The bare, verbless parallelism stacks the compulsions one on another for mounting force.
10
As to the bottle the drunkard,
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As to the vermin the carrion
Word«la charogne» — carrion, rotting flesh «la charogne» is carrion — a decaying carcass — and «les vermines» the worms and vermin that swarm it; «aux» is «à + les». The simile reverses the direction of the others: here the bound thing, «la charogne», is what the «vermines» feed on, so the speaker is at once the prisoner and the rotting bait. «la charogne» also titles one of the book's most notorious poems, and the word is pure Baudelaire.
12
— Accursed, accursed be you!
GrammarSubjunctive curse «sois-tu» «sois» is the present subjunctive of «être» (to be), inverted with «tu» to form an optative — a wish or curse: «maudite sois-tu» = 'cursed be you, may you be cursed'. «maudite» is the feminine of «maudit» (accursed), repeated for vehemence. The em-dash and the doubled adjective break the chain of similes into an outright malediction, the bitter turn at the poem's midpoint.
13
I begged the swift sword-blade
Grammar«prier qqch de» + infinitive «prier» here means 'to beg, to entreat', and takes the pattern «prier X de + infinitive» ('to beg X to do something') — the «De conquérir» arrives on the next line. «le glaive» is a sword or blade, more literary and martial than «l'épée». «J'ai prié le glaive rapide / De conquérir ma liberté» = 'I begged the swift blade to win me my freedom'.
14
To win me my liberty,
15
And I told the treacherous poison
Word«perfide» — treacherous, perfidious «perfide» means 'treacherous, faithless, perfidious' (from Latin «perfidus»). «le poison perfide» = 'the treacherous poison'. The blade and the poison are paired as two routes of escape the speaker entreats — «j'ai dit au poison … De secourir ma lâcheté» continues the «dire à … de» construction ('to tell something to do something') into the next line.
16
To come to the aid of my cowardice.
Word«la lâcheté» — cowardice «la lâcheté» is 'cowardice' (from «lâche», cowardly, also 'slack, loose'); «secourir» is the literary verb 'to rescue, to come to the aid of'. «De secourir ma lâcheté» = 'to relieve / rescue my cowardice' — the speaker, too weak to free himself, asks the poison to do for him what he cannot do alone. The admission of «lâcheté» sets up the contempt the blade and poison will return in the next stanza.
17
Alas! the poison and the sword
18
Held me in scorn and said to me:
Word«prendre en dédain» — to hold in scorn «le dédain» is 'disdain, scorn'; «prendre quelqu'un en dédain» is to take or hold someone in contempt. «M'ont pris en dédain» = 'held me in scorn'. The instruments of suicide turn on the speaker and answer him — the colon hands the rest of the poem over to their mocking reply, which runs in «guillemets» to the final line.
19
"You are not worthy that one should free you
GrammarSubjunctive after «digne que» «digne que» ('worthy that') triggers the subjunctive: «qu'on t'enlève» uses the present subjunctive of «enlever» (to take away, to remove). «on» is the impersonal 'one / someone'. «Tu n'es pas digne qu'on t'enlève / À ton esclavage maudit» = 'you are not worthy that anyone should take you away from your accursed slavery'. The «guillemets» «» are the French quotation marks framing the weapons' speech.
20
From your accursed slavery,
Grammar«enlever à» — to take away from «enlever quelque chose à quelqu'un» normally means 'to take something away from someone', but here «À ton esclavage» marks what one is taken from: «qu'on t'enlève à ton esclavage maudit» = 'that one should take you away from your accursed slavery'. «maudit» echoes the «maudite» the speaker hurled at the vampire — now the curse rebounds onto his own bondage.
21
Imbecile! — from her dominion
Word«l'empire» — dominion, sway «l'empire» beyond 'empire' means 'dominion, hold, sway' — the power one exerts over someone. «de son empire» = 'from her dominion / hold', «son» referring to the vampire. The em-dash and the insult «Imbécile!» open the weapons' verdict: «de son empire / Si nos efforts te délivraient» — 'if our efforts were to free you from her hold' — the hypothesis the final couplet will demolish.
22
If our efforts were to deliver you,
GrammarConditional «si» clause «délivraient» is the imperfect of «délivrer» (to free, to deliver), here in a «si + imparfait … conditionnel» pattern of unreal supposition: «Si nos efforts te délivraient … / Tes baisers ressusciteraient» = 'if our efforts were to free you, your kisses would revive…'. The imperfect after «si» sets up the hypothetical whose result is the conditional «ressusciteraient» in the closing line.
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Your kisses would resurrect
Word«ressusciter» — to raise from the dead «ressusciter» is 'to resurrect, to raise from the dead' (the verb used of Christ); «ressusciteraient» is its conditional — 'would bring back to life'. «Tes baisers ressusciteraient / Le cadavre de ton vampire» = 'your kisses would revive the corpse of your vampire'. The result clause completes the weapons' mockery: escape is impossible because the addict's own desire would resurrect the thing that destroys him.
24
The corpse of your vampire!"

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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