{"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":"obsession","title":{"source":"Obsession","translated":"Obsession"},"section":"Spleen and Ideal","summary":null,"url":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/obsession","lines":14},"previous":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/spleen-quand-le-ciel-bas-et-lourd","next":"https://1732studios.com/books/baudelaire/le-gout-du-neant","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":"obsession-s1-l1","source":"Grands bois, vous m'effrayez comme des cathédrales;","translation":"Great woods, you frighten me like cathedrals;","stanza":1,"audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Grands","lemma":"grand","morphology":"adjective, masculine, plural","role":"modifies bois","gloss":"great"},{"surface":"bois","lemma":"bois","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"vocative address","gloss":"woods"},{"surface":"vous","lemma":"vous","morphology":"pronoun, plural","role":"subject of effrayez","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"m'","lemma":"me","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"direct object of effrayez","gloss":"me"},{"surface":"effrayez","lemma":"effrayer","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, second-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"frighten"},{"surface":"comme","lemma":"comme","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking cathédrales","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"des","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of cathédrales","gloss":"some"},{"surface":"cathédrales","lemma":"cathédrale","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"oblique argument of effrayez","gloss":"cathedrals"}]},{"number":2,"label":"2","id":"obsession-s1-l2","source":"Vous hurlez comme l'orgue; et dans nos coeurs maudits,","translation":"You howl like the organ; and in our cursed hearts,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"Vous hurlez","title":"«hurler» — to howl","body":"«hurler» is to howl, to roar, to shriek — the cry of a wolf or a storm, not a human voice. Applied to the wind in the trees and likened to «l'orgue» (the church organ), it fuses the forest's natural roar with sacred music, so that nature itself seems to thunder a hymn over the «coeurs maudits» ('cursed hearts')."}],"words":[{"surface":"Vous","lemma":"vous","morphology":"pronoun, plural","role":"subject of hurlez","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"hurlez","lemma":"hurler","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, second-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"howl"},{"surface":"comme","lemma":"comme","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking orgue","gloss":"like"},{"surface":"l'","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of orgue","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"orgue","lemma":"orgue","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of hurlez","gloss":"organ"},{"surface":"et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"dans","lemma":"dans","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking coeurs","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"nos","lemma":"notre","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of coeurs","gloss":"our"},{"surface":"coeurs","lemma":"coeur","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"object of preposition dans, oblique argument of Répondent (s1-l4)","gloss":"hearts"},{"surface":"maudits","lemma":"maudit","morphology":"adjective, masculine, plural","role":"modifies coeurs","gloss":"cursed"}]},{"number":3,"label":"3","id":"obsession-s1-l3","source":"Chambres d'éternel deuil où vibrent de vieux râles,","translation":"Chambers of eternal mourning where old death-rattles tremble,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"où vibrent de vieux râles","title":"Verb-subject inversion after «où»","body":"The order inverts: «vibrent» (tremble, resonate) comes before its subject «de vieux râles» ('old death-rattles') — literally 'where tremble old rattles'. This poetic inversion, common after a relative «où» ('where'), keeps the long sound «râles» at the line's end. Note «de» before the fronted adjective: «de vieux râles», not «des vieux râles»."}],"words":[{"surface":"Chambres","lemma":"chambre","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"appositive to coeurs (previous line)","gloss":"Chambers"},{"surface":"d'","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking deuil","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"éternel","lemma":"éternel","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies deuil","gloss":"eternal"},{"surface":"deuil","lemma":"deuil","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"object of preposition d', modifies Chambres","gloss":"mourning"},{"surface":"où","lemma":"où","morphology":"adverb","role":"relative adverb, locative complement of vibrent","gloss":"where"},{"surface":"vibrent","lemma":"vibrer","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the relative clause on Chambres","gloss":"tremble"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking râles","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"vieux","lemma":"vieux","morphology":"adjective, masculine","role":"modifies râles","gloss":"old"},{"surface":"râles","lemma":"râle","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"subject of vibrent","gloss":"death-rattles"}]},{"number":4,"label":"4","id":"obsession-s1-l4","source":"Répondent les échos de vos De profundis.","translation":"The echoes of your De profundis answer back.","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Répondent","lemma":"répondre","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"answer back"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of échos","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"échos","lemma":"écho","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"subject of Répondent","gloss":"echoes"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking profundis","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"vos","lemma":"votre","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of the title De profundis","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"De","lemma":"de","morphology":"proper noun","role":"part of the title De profundis, modifies échos","gloss":"De","note":"\"De profundis\" is the Latin opening (\"out of the depths\") of Psalm 130, a penitential psalm."},{"surface":"profundis","lemma":"profundis","morphology":"proper noun","role":"part of the title De profundis, modifies échos","gloss":"profundis"}]},{"number":5,"label":"5","id":"obsession-s2-l1","source":"Je te hais, Océan! tes bonds et tes tumultes,","translation":"I hate you, Ocean! your surges and your tumults,","stanza":2,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"Je te hais","title":"«haïr» — to hate","body":"«haïr» is 'to hate'; «je te hais» = 'I hate you', with the familiar «te» ('you') now addressing the sea directly. The diaeresis in the infinitive «haïr» splits «a» and «i» into two sounds, but in this present-tense «hais» the vowels merge into one. The blunt opening reverses «L'Homme et la mer», where the poet loved the sea as a mirror; here that mirror is loathed."}],"words":[{"surface":"Je","lemma":"je","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of hais","gloss":"I"},{"surface":"te","lemma":"te","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"direct object of hais","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"hais","lemma":"haïr","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"hate"},{"surface":"Océan","lemma":"océan","morphology":"proper noun, masculine, singular","role":"vocative address","gloss":"Ocean"},{"surface":"tes","lemma":"ton","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of bonds","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"bonds","lemma":"bond","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"antecedent of les, object of retrouve (s2-l2)","gloss":"surges"},{"surface":"et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"tes","lemma":"ton","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of tumultes","gloss":"your"},{"surface":"tumultes","lemma":"tumulte","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"coordinated with bonds","gloss":"tumults"}]},{"number":6,"label":"6","id":"obsession-s2-l2","source":"Mon esprit les retrouve en lui; ce rire amer","translation":"My spirit finds them again within itself; that bitter laugh","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"les retrouve en lui","title":"«retrouver» + the pronoun «les»","body":"«retrouver» means 'to find again, to rediscover'; «les» refers back to the sea's «bonds» and «tumultes» (surges and tumults) of the line above, while «en lui» ('in it / within himself') points back to «mon esprit» (my spirit). The mind discovers the ocean's violence already inside it: the obsession is internal, not out at sea."}],"words":[{"surface":"Mon","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of esprit","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"esprit","lemma":"esprit","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"subject of retrouve","gloss":"spirit"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"pronoun, plural","role":"direct object of retrouve","gloss":"them"},{"surface":"retrouve","lemma":"retrouver","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"finds again"},{"surface":"en","lemma":"en","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking lui","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"lui","lemma":"lui","morphology":"pronoun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of retrouve","gloss":"itself"},{"surface":"ce","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of rire","gloss":"that"},{"surface":"rire","lemma":"rire","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"antecedent of l', object of entends (s2-l4)","gloss":"laugh"},{"surface":"amer","lemma":"amer","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies rire","gloss":"bitter"}]},{"number":7,"label":"7","id":"obsession-s2-l3","source":"De l'homme vaincu, plein de sanglots et d'insultes,","translation":"Of the vanquished man, full of sobs and of insults,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"l'homme vaincu","title":"«vaincu» — defeated","body":"«vaincu» is the past participle of «vaincre» (to conquer, to defeat), used as an adjective: 'the conquered, vanquished man'. His «rire amer» ('bitter laugh') is the laughter of one already beaten, mixed «de sanglots et d'insultes» — with sobs and insults — the broken sound the poet hears echoed in the laughing sea."}],"words":[{"surface":"De","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking homme","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"l'","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of homme","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"homme","lemma":"homme","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"object of preposition De, modifies rire (s2-l2)","gloss":"man"},{"surface":"vaincu","lemma":"vaincre","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, singular","role":"modifies homme","gloss":"vanquished"},{"surface":"plein","lemma":"plein","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"modifies homme","gloss":"full"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking sanglots","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"sanglots","lemma":"sanglot","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"oblique argument of plein","gloss":"sobs"},{"surface":"et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"d'","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking insultes","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"insultes","lemma":"insulte","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"coordinated with sanglots","gloss":"insults"}]},{"number":8,"label":"8","id":"obsession-s2-l4","source":"Je l'entends dans le rire énorme de la mer","translation":"I hear it in the enormous laughter of the sea","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Je","lemma":"je","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of entends","gloss":"I"},{"surface":"l'","lemma":"le","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"direct object of entends","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"entends","lemma":"entendre","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"hear"},{"surface":"dans","lemma":"dans","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking rire","gloss":"in"},{"surface":"le","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of rire","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"rire","lemma":"rire","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of entends","gloss":"laughter"},{"surface":"énorme","lemma":"énorme","morphology":"adjective, singular","role":"modifies rire","gloss":"enormous"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking mer","gloss":"of"},{"surface":"la","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of mer","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"mer","lemma":"mer","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"modifies rire","gloss":"sea"}]},{"number":9,"label":"9","id":"obsession-s3-l1","source":"Comme tu me plairais, ô nuit! sans ces étoiles","translation":"How you would please me, O night! without these stars","stanza":3,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"tu me plairais","title":"Conditional «plairais» + «plaire à»","body":"«plaire» means 'to please' and governs an indirect object: «tu me plairais» = 'you would please me' (literally 'you would be pleasing to me'). The conditional «plairais» marks a wish set against reality — the night would delight him, if only it were starless. The contrary-to-fact yearning is the engine of the closing tercets."}],"words":[{"surface":"Comme","lemma":"comme","morphology":"subordinating conjunction","role":"introduces the exclamatory clause of plairais","gloss":"how"},{"surface":"tu","lemma":"tu","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of plairais","gloss":"you"},{"surface":"me","lemma":"me","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"indirect object of plairais","gloss":"me"},{"surface":"plairais","lemma":"plaire","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, singular","role":"main verb of the exclamatory clause","gloss":"would please"},{"surface":"ô","lemma":"ô","morphology":"interjection","role":"depends on nuit","gloss":"oh"},{"surface":"nuit","lemma":"nuit","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"vocative address","gloss":"night"},{"surface":"sans","lemma":"sans","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking étoiles","gloss":"without"},{"surface":"ces","lemma":"ce","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of étoiles","gloss":"these"},{"surface":"étoiles","lemma":"étoile","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"object of sans, modifies plairais","gloss":"stars"}]},{"number":10,"label":"10","id":"obsession-s3-l2","source":"Dont la lumière parle un langage connu!","translation":"Whose light speaks a language I know!","audio":null,"notes":[],"words":[{"surface":"Dont","lemma":"dont","morphology":"pronoun","role":"possessive relative pronoun, modifies lumière (refers to étoiles)","gloss":"whose"},{"surface":"la","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, feminine, singular","role":"determiner of lumière","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"lumière","lemma":"lumière","morphology":"noun, feminine, singular","role":"subject of parle","gloss":"light"},{"surface":"parle","lemma":"parler","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"speaks"},{"surface":"un","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of langage","gloss":"a"},{"surface":"langage","lemma":"langage","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"direct object of parle","gloss":"language"},{"surface":"connu","lemma":"connaître","morphology":"verb, past, participle, masculine, singular","role":"modifies langage","gloss":"known"}]},{"number":11,"label":"11","id":"obsession-s3-l3","source":"Car je cherche le vide, et le noir, et le nu!","translation":"For I seek the void, and the black, and the bare!","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"le vide, le noir, le nu","title":"Adjectives turned into nouns","body":"Each adjective is nominalized with «le»: «le vide» ('the void / emptiness'), «le noir» ('the black / darkness'), «le nu» ('the bare / nakedness'). French turns adjectives into abstract nouns this way far more readily than English. The triple «et … et … et …» ('and … and … and …') piles the absolutes together — the poet craves a clean, unwritten nothing."}],"words":[{"surface":"Car","lemma":"car","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"for"},{"surface":"je","lemma":"je","morphology":"pronoun, singular","role":"subject of cherche","gloss":"I"},{"surface":"cherche","lemma":"chercher","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, first-person, singular","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"seek"},{"surface":"le","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of vide","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"vide","lemma":"vide","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"direct object of cherche","gloss":"void"},{"surface":"et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"le","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of noir","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"noir","lemma":"noir","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"coordinated with vide, direct object of cherche","gloss":"black"},{"surface":"et","lemma":"et","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"and"},{"surface":"le","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, masculine, singular","role":"determiner of nu","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"nu","lemma":"nu","morphology":"adjective, masculine, singular","role":"coordinated with noir, direct object of cherche","gloss":"bare"}]},{"number":12,"label":"12","id":"obsession-s4-l1","source":"Mais les ténèbres sont elles-mêmes des toiles","translation":"But the darkness is itself a canvas","stanza":4,"audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"les ténèbres ... elles-mêmes","title":"Emphatic «elles-mêmes»","body":"«les ténèbres» ('the darkness, the shadows') is grammatically plural and feminine in French, so the emphatic pronoun agrees: «elles-mêmes» = 'themselves' (the English 'itself' collapses the plural). The turn lands here: even the dark he begged for is not blank — it is «des toiles», canvases, a screen onto which his ghosts are already painted."}],"words":[{"surface":"Mais","lemma":"mais","morphology":"conjunction","role":"links the coordination","gloss":"but"},{"surface":"les","lemma":"le","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of ténèbres","gloss":"the"},{"surface":"ténèbres","lemma":"ténèbre","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"subject of sont","gloss":"darkness"},{"surface":"sont","lemma":"être","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the sentence","gloss":"is"},{"surface":"elles","lemma":"elle","morphology":"pronoun, feminine, plural","role":"part of the reflexive emphatic elles-mêmes","gloss":"it"},{"surface":"mêmes","lemma":"même","morphology":"pronoun","role":"part of the phrase elles-mêmes, predicate of sont","gloss":"itself"},{"surface":"des","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of toiles","gloss":"some"},{"surface":"toiles","lemma":"toile","morphology":"noun, feminine, plural","role":"predicate complement of sont","gloss":"canvases"}]},{"number":13,"label":"13","id":"obsession-s4-l2","source":"Où vivent, jaillissant de mon oeil par milliers,","translation":"Where there live, springing from my eye by the thousand,","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"grammar","term":"jaillissant de mon oeil","title":"Present participle «jaillissant»","body":"«jaillir» means 'to gush, to spurt, to spring forth'; the present participle «jaillissant» = 'springing, gushing'. It modifies the «êtres» of the next line, who pour «de mon oeil par milliers» ('from my eye by the thousands'). Note the inversion: the verb «vivent» ('there live') again precedes its subject, holding the vision back until the final line."}],"words":[{"surface":"Où","lemma":"où","morphology":"adverb","role":"relative adverb, introduces clause modifying toiles (s4-l1)","gloss":"where"},{"surface":"vivent","lemma":"vivre","morphology":"verb, present, indicative, third-person, plural","role":"main verb of the clause (subject: êtres, s4-l3)","gloss":"live"},{"surface":"jaillissant","lemma":"jaillir","morphology":"verb, present, participle","role":"adverbial clause on vivent","gloss":"springing"},{"surface":"de","lemma":"de","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking oeil","gloss":"from"},{"surface":"mon","lemma":"mon","morphology":"determiner, singular","role":"determiner of oeil","gloss":"my"},{"surface":"oeil","lemma":"oeil","morphology":"noun, masculine, singular","role":"oblique argument of jaillissant","gloss":"eye"},{"surface":"par","lemma":"par","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking milliers","gloss":"by"},{"surface":"milliers","lemma":"millier","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"oblique argument of jaillissant","gloss":"thousands"}]},{"number":14,"label":"14","id":"obsession-s4-l3","source":"Des êtres disparus aux regards familiers.","translation":"Vanished beings with familiar gazes.","audio":null,"notes":[{"kind":"vocabulary","term":"aux regards familiers","title":"«les regards familiers»","body":"«un regard» is a 'look, gaze, glance' (not the eye itself); «familier» is 'familiar, intimate'. The closing «regards familiers» deliberately echoes the «regards familiers» that watched man in «Correspondances» — but where there the symbols of nature gazed kindly, here the familiar eyes belong to «des êtres disparus», the vanished dead. The obsession is that the world will not stop looking back."}],"words":[{"surface":"Des","lemma":"un","morphology":"determiner, plural","role":"determiner of êtres","gloss":"some"},{"surface":"êtres","lemma":"être","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"subject of vivent (s4-l2)","gloss":"beings"},{"surface":"disparus","lemma":"disparu","morphology":"adjective, masculine, plural","role":"modifies êtres","gloss":"vanished"},{"surface":"aux","lemma":"à","morphology":"preposition","role":"preposition marking regards","gloss":"with"},{"surface":"regards","lemma":"regard","morphology":"noun, masculine, plural","role":"modifies êtres","gloss":"gazes"},{"surface":"familiers","lemma":"familier","morphology":"adjective, masculine, plural","role":"modifies regards","gloss":"familiar"}]}]}