{"work":{"slug":"baudelaire","title":{"source":"Les Fleurs du mal","translated":"The Flowers of Evil"},"author":"Charles Baudelaire","language":"French","languageCode":"fr","url":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire"},"unit":{"kind":"poem","number":null,"id":"les-aveugles","title":{"source":"Les Aveugles","translated":"The Blind"},"section":"Parisian Scenes","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/les-aveugles","lines":14},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/les-petites-vieilles","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/a-une-passante","license":"Source text: public domain (Charles Baudelaire, d. 1867). English translation: © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC — original draft, pending editorial review.","audioBase":null,"lines":[{"number":1,"label":"1","id":"les-aveugles-s1-l1","source":"Contemple-les, mon âme; ils sont vraiment affreux!","translation":"Look at them, my soul; they are truly hideous!","stanza":1,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Contemple-les","title":"Imperative with attached pronoun","body":"«Contemple» is the imperative of «contempler» ('to gaze upon, contemplate'). In an affirmative command the object pronoun follows the verb and is joined by a hyphen: «Contemple-les» = 'Gaze upon them'. The poet orders his own «âme» (soul) to look — the whole sonnet is staged as that act of looking."}],"words":[{"surface":"Contemple","lemma":"contempler","morphology":"verb, imperative, second-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"look at"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"pronoun, plural","role":"direct object of Contemple","gloss":"them"},{"surface":"mon","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of âme","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"âme","lemma":"âme","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"vocative address","gloss":"soul"},{"surface":"ils","lemma":"il","morphology":"pronoun, masculine, plural","role":"subject of sont","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"sont","lemma":"être","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"copula linking to affreux","gloss":"are"},{"surface":"vraiment","lemma":"vraiment","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies affreux","gloss":"truly"},{"surface":"affreux","lemma":"affreux","morphology":"adjective, masculine","role":"predicate adjective, complement of sont","gloss":"hideous"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"les-aveugles-s1-l2","source":"Pareils aux mannequins; vaguement ridicules;","translation":"Like mannequins; vaguely ridiculous;","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Pareils aux mannequins","title":"«pareil à» — 'like, similar to'","body":"«pareil à» means 'like, similar to', and «à» contracts with «les» to give «aux»: «pareils aux mannequins» = 'like mannequins'. The adjective «pareils» is masculine plural, agreeing with «ils» (the blind men) — the first of a chain of comparisons that drains them of life, likening them to shop-window dummies."}],"words":[{"surface":"Pareils","lemma":"pareil","morphology":"adjective, masculine, plural","role":"modifies ils","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"aux","lemma":"à","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking mannequins","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"mannequins","lemma":"mannequin","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"modifies Pareils","gloss":"mannequins"},{"surface":"vaguement","lemma":"vaguement","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies ridicules","gloss":"vaguely"},{"surface":"ridicules","lemma":"ridicule","morphology":"adjective, plural","role":"coordinated with Pareils","gloss":"ridiculous"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"les-aveugles-s1-l3","source":"Terribles, singuliers comme les somnambules;","translation":"Terrible, strange as sleepwalkers;","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Terribles","lemma":"terrible","morphology":"adjective, plural","role":"coordinated with ridicules","gloss":"terrible"},{"surface":"singuliers","lemma":"singulier","morphology":"adjective, masculine, plural","role":"modifies Terribles","gloss":"strange"},{"surface":"comme","lemma":"comme","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking somnambules","gloss":"as"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of somnambules","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"somnambules","lemma":"somnambule","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"modifies singuliers","gloss":"sleepwalkers"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"les-aveugles-s1-l4","source":"Dardant on ne sait où leurs globes ténébreux.","translation":"Aiming who knows where their darkened eyes.","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Dardant ... leurs globes ténébreux","title":"darder (v.); globe (m.)","body":"«darder» is to dart, hurl, or aim (as one would a «dard», a dart or sting); the present participle «dardant» opens the line with the action. «leurs globes ténébreux» — literally 'their shadowy globes' — are the eyeballs, dark because sightless. The blind aim their dead eyes «on ne sait où», 'no one knows where'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Dardant","lemma":"darder","morphology":"verb, present, participle","role":"coordinated with Terribles, describes ils","gloss":"aiming"},{"surface":"on","lemma":"on","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of sait","gloss":"one"},{"surface":"ne","lemma":"ne","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies sait","gloss":"not"},{"surface":"sait","lemma":"savoir","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the parenthetical clause on ne sait où","gloss":"knows","note":"'on ne sait où' is an idiom meaning 'who knows where'."},{"surface":"où","lemma":"où","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies sait","gloss":"where"},{"surface":"leurs","lemma":"leur","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of globes","gloss":"their"},{"surface":"globes","lemma":"globe","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"direct object of Dardant","gloss":"eyes"},{"surface":"ténébreux","lemma":"ténébreux","morphology":"adjective, masculine, plural","role":"modifies globes","gloss":"darkened"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"les-aveugles-s2-l1","source":"Leurs yeux, d'où la divine étincelle est partie,","translation":"Their eyes, from which the divine spark has departed,","stanza":2,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"d'où ... est partie","title":"Relative «d'où» + «partir» (être)","body":"«d'où» means 'from which' («de» + «où»), here pointing back to «yeux» (eyes). «partir» ('to leave, depart') takes «être» in compound tenses, so the past participle agrees with its subject: «la divine étincelle est partie» = 'the divine spark has departed' (feminine «partie»). The light of life has gone out of these eyes."}],"words":[{"surface":"Leurs","lemma":"leur","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of yeux","gloss":"their"},{"surface":"yeux","lemma":"oeil","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"eyes"},{"surface":"d'","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"introduces the clause of partie","gloss":"from"},{"surface":"où","lemma":"où","morphology":"pronoun","role":"part of the phrase d'","gloss":"which"},{"surface":"la","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of divine","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"divine","lemma":"divin","morphology":"adjective, feminine, singular","role":"modifies étincelle","gloss":"divine"},{"surface":"étincelle","lemma":"étincelle","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"subject of partie","gloss":"spark"},{"surface":"est","lemma":"être","morphology":"auxiliary verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"depends on partie","gloss":"has"},{"surface":"partie","lemma":"partir","morphology":"verb, past, passive, participle, feminine, singular","role":"main verb of the relative clause on yeux","gloss":"departed"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"les-aveugles-s2-l2","source":"Comme s'ils regardaient au loin, restent levés","translation":"As if they were gazing into the distance, stay raised","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Comme s'ils regardaient","title":"«comme si» + imperfect","body":"«comme si» ('as if') takes the imperfect to set up an unreal comparison: «comme s'ils regardaient au loin» = 'as if they were looking into the distance'. The blind cannot see, yet their lifted eyes counterfeit the gaze of someone watching the horizon — the pathos turns on this 'as if'."}],"words":[{"surface":"Comme","lemma":"comme","morphology":"conjunction","role":"introduces the clause of regardaient","gloss":"as"},{"surface":"s'","lemma":"si","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"part of the phrase comme, introduces regardaient","gloss":"if"},{"surface":"ils","lemma":"il","morphology":"pronoun, masculine, plural","role":"subject of regardaient","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"regardaient","lemma":"regarder","morphology":"verb, imperfect, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the comme si clause","gloss":"were gazing"},{"surface":"au","lemma":"au","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking loin","gloss":"into"},{"surface":"loin","lemma":"loin","morphology":"adverb","role":"oblique argument of regardaient","gloss":"distance"},{"surface":"restent","lemma":"rester","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"stay"},{"surface":"levés","lemma":"lever","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, plural","role":"complement of restent","gloss":"raised"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"les-aveugles-s2-l3","source":"Au ciel; on ne les voit jamais vers les pavés","translation":"Toward the sky; one never sees them, toward the paving-stones,","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Au","lemma":"au","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking ciel","gloss":"toward"},{"surface":"ciel","lemma":"ciel","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of restent (previous line)","gloss":"sky"},{"surface":"on","lemma":"on","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of voit","gloss":"one"},{"surface":"ne","lemma":"ne","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies voit","gloss":"not"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"pronoun, plural","role":"direct object of voit","gloss":"them"},{"surface":"voit","lemma":"voir","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"sees"},{"surface":"jamais","lemma":"jamais","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies voit","gloss":"never"},{"surface":"vers","lemma":"vers","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking pavés","gloss":"toward"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of pavés","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"pavés","lemma":"pavé","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"oblique argument of voit","gloss":"paving-stones"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"les-aveugles-s2-l4","source":"Pencher rêveusement leur tête appesantie.","translation":"dreamily bow their heavy heads.","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"leur tête appesantie","title":"appesanti — weighed down","body":"«appesanti» is the past participle of «appesantir», 'to make heavy, to weigh down'; «leur tête appesantie» = 'their heavy-laden head'. The verb «pencher» ('to bow, to tilt') governs across lines 3–4: the blind never tilt their weighted heads down toward the «pavés» (paving-stones), as a brooding, sighted person would. They keep their faces turned up, toward an empty sky."}],"words":[{"surface":"Pencher","lemma":"pencher","morphology":"verb, infinitive","role":"infinitive complement of voit","gloss":"bow"},{"surface":"rêveusement","lemma":"rêveusement","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies Pencher","gloss":"dreamily"},{"surface":"leur","lemma":"leur","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of tête","gloss":"their"},{"surface":"tête","lemma":"tête","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"direct object of Pencher","gloss":"heads"},{"surface":"appesantie","lemma":"appesantir","morphology":"verb, past, participle, feminine, singular","role":"modifies tête","gloss":"heavy"}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"les-aveugles-s3-l1","source":"Ils traversent ainsi le noir illimité,","translation":"Thus they cross the limitless dark,","stanza":3,"audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Ils","lemma":"il","morphology":"pronoun, masculine, plural","role":"subject of traversent","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"traversent","lemma":"traverser","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"cross"},{"surface":"ainsi","lemma":"ainsi","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies traversent","gloss":"thus"},{"surface":"le","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of noir","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"noir","lemma":"noir","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"direct object of traversent","gloss":"dark"},{"surface":"illimité","lemma":"illimité","morphology":"adjective, singular","role":"modifies noir","gloss":"limitless"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"les-aveugles-s3-l2","source":"Ce frère du silence éternel. Ô cité!","translation":"that brother of eternal silence. O city!","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Ce frère du silence éternel","title":"Appositive «ce frère»","body":"«Ce frère du silence éternel» ('this brother of eternal silence') stands in apposition to «le noir illimité» from the line before — the limitless dark is recast as the kin of an everlasting silence. The blackness the blind walk through is figured as death's sibling, deepening their walk into something more than a stroll across the city."}],"words":[{"surface":"Ce","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of frère","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"frère","lemma":"frère","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"head of the phrase","gloss":"brother"},{"surface":"du","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking silence","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"silence","lemma":"silence","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"modifies frère","gloss":"silence"},{"surface":"éternel","lemma":"éternel","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies silence","gloss":"eternal"},{"surface":"Ô","lemma":"ô","morphology":"interjection","role":"introduces cité","gloss":"O"},{"surface":"cité","lemma":"cité","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"head of the exclamation","gloss":"city"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"les-aveugles-s3-l3","source":"Pendant qu'autour de nous tu chantes, ris et beugles,","translation":"while all around us you sing, laugh and bellow,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Pendant qu'autour de nous tu chantes, ris et beugles","title":"«pendant que» + present; «beugler»","body":"«pendant que» ('while') introduces a clause of simultaneous time, here in the present: «tu chantes, ris et beugles» = 'you sing, laugh and bellow'. The «tu» is the «cité» (city), addressed directly. «beugler» is to bellow or low like cattle — a coarse, animal noise set against the blind men's silence."}],"words":[{"surface":"Pendant","lemma":"pendant","morphology":"preposition","role":"introduces the clause of chantes (pendant que)","gloss":"while"},{"surface":"qu'","lemma":"que","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"part of the phrase Pendant","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"autour","lemma":"autour","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies chantes","gloss":"around"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"introduces nous, part of autour de","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"nous","lemma":"nous","morphology":"pronoun, plural","role":"oblique argument of autour","gloss":"us"},{"surface":"tu","lemma":"tu","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of chantes","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"chantes","lemma":"chanter","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, second-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"sing"},{"surface":"ris","lemma":"rire","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, second-person, singular","role":"coordinated with chantes","gloss":"laugh"},{"surface":"et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"beugles","lemma":"beugler","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, second-person, singular","role":"coordinated with chantes","gloss":"bellow"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"les-aveugles-s4-l1","source":"Eprise du plaisir jusqu'à l'atrocité,","translation":"Smitten with pleasure to the point of atrocity,","stanza":4,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Eprise du plaisir","title":"épris(e) de — enamored of","body":"«épris de» means 'smitten with, enamored of' (past participle of «s'éprendre», 'to fall in love'). The feminine «éprise» agrees with «cité» (city) from the previous stanza: the city is 'in love with pleasure'. «jusqu'à l'atrocité» — 'to the point of atrocity' — pushes that craving past delight into something monstrous."}],"words":[{"surface":"Eprise","lemma":"épris","morphology":"verb, past, participle, feminine, singular","role":"describes tu, the city","gloss":"smitten"},{"surface":"du","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking plaisir","gloss":"with"},{"surface":"plaisir","lemma":"plaisir","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of Eprise","gloss":"pleasure"},{"surface":"jusqu'","lemma":"jusque","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking atrocité","gloss":"to"},{"surface":"à","lemma":"à","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking atrocité","gloss":"the point of"},{"surface":"l'","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of atrocité","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"atrocité","lemma":"atrocité","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"oblique argument of Eprise","gloss":"atrocity"}]},{"number":13,"label":"13","id":"les-aveugles-s4-l2","source":"Vois! je me traîne aussi! mais, plus qu'eux hébété,","translation":"Look! I too drag myself along! but, more dazed than they,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"je me traîne","title":"Pronominal «se traîner»","body":"«se traîner» is a pronominal (reflexive) verb, 'to drag oneself, to crawl along'; «je me traîne» = 'I drag myself'. The reflexive «me» turns «traîner» ('to drag' something) onto the speaker himself. With «aussi» ('too') the poet places himself among the blind — a fellow groper through the dark."},{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"plus qu'eux hébété","title":"hébété — dazed, stupefied","body":"«hébété» means 'dazed, stupefied, dulled' (as by shock or exhaustion). «plus qu'eux hébété» = 'more dazed than they' — the comparative «plus ... que» measures the poet against the blind men and finds him worse off: he sees, yet wanders more bewildered than the sightless."}],"words":[{"surface":"Vois","lemma":"voir","morphology":"verb, imperative, second-person, singular","role":"main verb of the exclamation","gloss":"look"},{"surface":"je","lemma":"je","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of traîne","gloss":"I"},{"surface":"me","lemma":"me","morphology":"pronoun, singular, reflexive","role":"reflexive particle of traîne","gloss":"myself"},{"surface":"traîne","lemma":"traîner","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"drag"},{"surface":"aussi","lemma":"aussi","morphology":"adverb","role":"modifies traîne","gloss":"too"},{"surface":"mais","lemma":"mais","morphology":"conjunction","role":"connects to the following clause","gloss":"but"},{"surface":"plus","lemma":"plus","morphology":"adverb","role":"part of the comparative phrase plus...que, modifies hébété","gloss":"more"},{"surface":"qu'","lemma":"que","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"introduces the comparison with eux","gloss":"than"},{"surface":"eux","lemma":"eux","morphology":"pronoun, masculine, plural","role":"object of comparison (que eux)","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"hébété","lemma":"hébété","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies je","gloss":"dazed"}]},{"number":14,"label":"14","id":"les-aveugles-s4-l3","source":"Je dis: Que cherchent-ils au Ciel, tous ces aveugles?","translation":"I say: What do they seek in Heaven, all these blind men?","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Que cherchent-ils au Ciel","title":"Interrogative inversion","body":"The closing question uses subject-verb inversion: «Que cherchent-ils...?» = 'What do they seek...?', with the pronoun «ils» placed after the verb «cherchent» and linked by a hyphen. The capitalized «Ciel» ('Heaven', not merely the sky) lifts the question to a metaphysical one: the blind tilt their dead eyes upward, and the poet asks what any of us hopes to find there."}],"words":[{"surface":"Je","lemma":"je","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of dis","gloss":"I"},{"surface":"dis","lemma":"dire","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"say"},{"surface":"Que","lemma":"que","morphology":"pronoun","role":"direct object of cherchent","gloss":"what"},{"surface":"cherchent","lemma":"chercher","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"clausal complement of dis","gloss":"seek"},{"surface":"-ils","lemma":"il","morphology":"pronoun, masculine, plural","role":"subject of cherchent","gloss":"they"},{"surface":"au","lemma":"au","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking Ciel","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"Ciel","lemma":"ciel","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of cherchent","gloss":"Heaven"},{"surface":"tous","lemma":"tout","morphology":"adjective, masculine, plural","role":"modifies aveugles","gloss":"all"},{"surface":"ces","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of aveugles","gloss":"these"},{"surface":"aveugles","lemma":"aveugle","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"in apposition to ils","gloss":"blind men"}]}]}