French · Spleen and Ideal

Parfum exotique

Exotic Perfume

14 lines · 11 notes

Tap a line to open its words.

1
When, both eyes closed, on a warm autumn evening,
Quandwhenquand · subordinating conjunctionintroduces the clause of respire
lesthele · determiner, pluraldeterminer of yeux
deuxbothdeux · numeralquantifies yeux
yeuxeyesoeil · noun, masculine, pluralsubject of fermés
fermésclosedfermer · verb, past, participle, masculine, pluralabsolute participial clause modifying yeux
enonen · prepositionpreposition marking soir
unaun · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of soir
soireveningsoir · noun, masculine, singularobject of en, modifies respire
chaudwarmchaud · adjective, masculine, singularmodifies soir
d'ofde · prepositionpreposition marking automne
automneautumnautomne · noun, masculine, singularmodifies soir
Grammar«quand» + present for a recurring moment «quand» ('when') here opens a long temporal clause (proposition temporelle) that does not resolve until «Je vois» in line 3. Paired with the present tense «je respire» (line 2), it describes not one night but a habitual act: 'whenever I breathe...'. The whole sonnet hangs on this single suspended «quand», the trigger that releases the vision.
2
I breathe in the scent of your warm breast,
3
I see happy shores unfurling
GrammarPronominal «se dérouler» after «voir» «dérouler» is 'to unroll'; the pronominal «se dérouler» means 'to unroll itself, to unfold, to spread out'. After a verb of perception, French uses the infinitive: «je vois se dérouler des rivages» = 'I see shores unfurling'. The scent does not show the speaker a fixed picture — the coast unrolls of its own accord, like a scroll opening before the closed eyes.
4
Dazzled by the fires of a monotonous sun;
GrammarInverted relative clause The order is inverted for the verse: the subject is «les feux d'un soleil» (the fires of a sun) and the object is «qu'» (= the shores). Read straight, «que les feux d'un soleil monotone éblouissent» = 'which the fires of a monotonous sun dazzle'. Putting the verb «éblouissent» ('dazzle') before its subject is a common poetic inversion that keeps the alexandrine's rhythm and rhyme intact.
5
A lazy island where nature bestows
6
Singular trees and savory fruits;
Word«singulier» — strange, one of a kind «singulier» means more than English 'singular'; it is 'strange, peculiar, unlike anything else'. «Des arbres singuliers» are not merely odd trees but exotic, never-before-seen ones — the unfamiliar flora of a tropical island, set beside «des fruits savoureux» (tasty fruits) to make the place a paradise of the senses.
7
Men whose bodies are slender and vigorous,
GrammarThe relative pronoun «dont» «dont» means 'whose / of whom / of which' and replaces a phrase with «de». «Des hommes dont le corps est mince» = 'men whose body is slender'. It links the people of the island to a trait that belongs to them; the parallel «et des femmes dont l'oeil...» in the next line repeats the structure, balancing the men against the women.
8
And women whose eyes astonish by their frankness.
Word«la franchise» — openness, candor «la franchise» is frankness, openness, the absence of guile. «dont l'oeil par sa franchise étonne» = 'whose eye astonishes by its candor'. What startles the speaker in these island women is not coquetry but a direct, unguarded gaze — an innocence Baudelaire sets far from the painted, knowing women of Paris.
9
Guided by your scent toward charming climes,
GrammarPast participle as opening modifier «Guidé» is the past participle of «guider» (to guide), here agreeing with the unstated «je» and standing in for 'being guided / led': 'Guided by your scent...'. The tercet opens on this participle, suspended until the main verb «Je vois» arrives in the next line — the scent itself is what leads the dreamer onward to the harbor.
10
I see a harbor filled with sails and masts
11
Still all weary from the ocean swell,
Word«Encor» — poetic «encore» «Encor» is a licensed poetic spelling of «encore» ('still, yet'), dropping the final «e» to save a syllable in the twelve-syllable line. «Encor tout fatigués» = 'still all worn out': the sails and masts ('voiles et mâts') are personified, exhausted by «la vague marine» (the sea swell) like sailors home from a long voyage.
12
While the perfume of the green tamarind trees,
Word«le tamarinier» — the tamarind tree «le tamarinier» is the tamarind tree, a tropical tree bearing fragrant pods. «les verts tamariniers» — 'the green tamarind trees' — root the daydream in a real, sensory exotic; Baudelaire knew the scent from his youthful voyage toward the Indian Ocean. «Pendant que» ('while') begins the long final clause that carries the sonnet to its close.
13
Which circles in the air and swells my nostril,
GrammarDative «me» with a body part French marks a body part with the definite article and an indirect-object pronoun rather than a possessive: «m'enfle la narine» = 'swells the nostril for me / swells my nostril'. The «me» shows whose nostril is meant. The perfume is the subject, physically filling and dilating the breathing speaker as it «circule dans l'air» (circulates in the air).
14
Mingles in my soul with the song of the sailors.
GrammarPronominal «se mêler à» — to mingle with «se mêler à qch» is the pronominal verb 'to mingle / blend with something'. Here the long-delayed main verb arrives: «le parfum ... se mêle ... au chant des mariniers» = 'the perfume mingles with the sailors' song'. Smell becomes sound inside «mon âme» (my soul) — the sonnet ends on the synesthesia at the heart of Baudelaire's whole sensory program.

The particulars

The text: Les Fleurs du mal, Charles Baudelaire. Spleen and Ideal.
Words: Every word of the text, by letter.
Data: JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents