French · Spleen and Ideal

Moesta et errabunda

Sorrowful and Wandering

30 lines · 13 notes

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1
Tell me, does your heart sometimes take flight, Agatha,
Distelldire · verb, imperative, second-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
-moimemoi · pronoun, singularindirect object of Dis
tonyourton · determiner, singulardeterminer of coeur
coeurheartcoeur · noun, masculine, singularsubject of envole
parfoissometimesparfois · adverbmodifies envole
s'itselfse · pronoun, reflexivedepends on envole
envoletakes flightenvoler · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularverb of the clause following Dis-moi
-t(linking sound)-t- · euphonic linking consonantlinks envole and il
-ilitil · pronoun, masculine, singularsubject of envole (inverted)
AgatheAgathaAgathe · proper noundirect address
GrammarReflexive «s'envoler» + inversion «s'envoler» is a pronominal verb, 'to fly off, take flight'. The «-t-il» is interrogative inversion: subject «il» (the «coeur») follows the verb, with a euphonic «-t-» inserted between two vowels. «s'envole-t-il?» = 'does it take flight?'
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Far from the black ocean of the filthy city
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Toward another ocean where splendor blazes,
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Blue, bright, deep, as is virginity itself?
Grammar«ainsi que» = 'just as, like' «ainsi que» introduces a comparison, 'just as / in the same way as'. Here «bleu, clair, profond, ainsi que la virginité» likens the far ocean's color and depth to virginity — pure, untouched, unfathomable.
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Tell me, does your heart sometimes take flight, Agatha?
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The sea, the vast sea, consoles our toils!
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What demon endowed the sea, that hoarse songstress
Word«rauque», «chanteuse» «rauque» = 'hoarse, raucous, throaty'; «chanteuse» is the feminine 'singer'. The sea is personified as a rough-voiced woman singer, accompanied in the next line by the «orgue des vents» (organ of the winds).
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Whom the immense organ of the growling winds accompanies,
GrammarRelative «que» with inverted subject «que» is the object relative, referring back to «la mer». The subject «l'immense orgue des vents» is inverted to follow the verb «accompagne». Untangled: 'whom the immense organ of the winds accompanies' — the sea sings, the winds play.
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With this sublime office of a lullaby-singer?
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The sea, the vast sea, consoles our toils!
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Carry me off, railway car! bear me away, frigate!
GrammarImperative + postposed «moi» Both are affirmative imperatives with the object pronoun placed after and joined by a hyphen, using the stressed form «moi» (not «me»). «Emporte-moi» = 'carry me off'; «enlève-moi» = 'take me away'. The address to a «wagon» and a «frégate» makes inanimate vehicles into agents of escape.
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Far! far away! here the mud is made of our tears!
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— Is it true that sometimes the sorrowful heart of Agatha
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Says: Far from remorse, from crimes, from sorrows,
GrammarPresent subjunctive «dise» «dise» is the present subjunctive of «dire» ('to say'), triggered by «Est-il vrai que…» — a doubting, questioning frame that calls for the subjunctive rather than the indicative «dit». The mood marks the heart's hoped-for speech as something uncertain, only longed for.
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Carry me off, railway car, bear me away, frigate?
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How far away you are, perfumed paradise,
GrammarExclamatory «comme» «comme» here is exclamatory, not comparative: «Comme vous êtes loin» = 'How far away you are!' It opens a lament addressed directly («vous») to the lost paradise, the way one might cry out to a person.
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Where under a clear blue all is nothing but love and joy,
Grammar«ne… que» = 'only / nothing but' «ne… que» is the restrictive construction meaning 'only, nothing but'. «tout n'est qu'amour et joie» = 'everything is nothing but love and joy'. It is not a negation of «être» but a limiting of it to that one thing.
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Where all that one loves is worthy of being loved,
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Where in pure delight the heart drowns itself!
Word«se noyer», «volupté» «se noyer» is reflexive, 'to drown oneself, to be drowned'. «volupté» is sensual delight, richer and more bodily than plain 'pleasure'. The heart willingly drowns in that delight — a sweet undoing rather than a death.
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How far away you are, perfumed paradise!
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But the green paradise of childhood loves,
Word«amours» (f. pl.), «enfantin» «amour» is masculine in the singular but conventionally feminine in the poetic plural, hence the feminine «enfantines». «enfantin» = 'childlike, of childhood'. The «vert paradis des amours enfantines» — the green paradise of childhood loves — became one of Baudelaire's most quoted phrases.
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The races, the songs, the kisses, the bouquets,
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The violins quivering behind the hills,
GrammarPresent participle «vibrant» «vibrant» is the present participle of «vibrer» ('to vibrate, quiver, throb'). Used as an invariant verbal form it describes the violins in the act of trembling — 'the violins quivering behind the hills' — keeping the scene alive and ongoing rather than fixed.
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With the jugs of wine, at evening, among the groves,
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— But the green paradise of childhood loves,
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The innocent paradise, full of furtive pleasures,
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Is it already farther off than India and than China?
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Can one call it back with plaintive cries,
Word«rappeler» «rappeler» = 'to call back, recall, summon again'. Here it is the lost paradise that one tries to «rappeler» — to call back into being. The verb keeps the cruel hope that childhood, like a person, might answer if called loudly enough.
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And quicken it once more with a silvery voice,
Word«argentin(e)» «argentin» means 'silvery', especially of a sound — clear, ringing, bell-like — from «argent» ('silver'). «une voix argentine» is a bright, silver-toned voice, the kind imagined as belonging to children, fit to summon the lost innocent paradise.
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The innocent paradise full of furtive pleasures?

The particulars

The text: Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire. Spleen and Ideal.
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