French · Spleen and Ideal

Une Gravure fantastique

A Fantastic Engraving

14 lines · 8 notes

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This strange spectre has, for all its finery,
CeThisce · determiner, masculine, singulardeterminer of spectre
spectrespectrespectre · noun, masculine, singularsubject of a
singulierstrangesingulier · adjective, masculine, singularmodifies spectre
n'(not)ne · adverbrestrictive negation with que (l3), modifies a
n'...que is a restrictive construction meaning "only", split across the line ending in que (l3).
ahasavoir · verb, present, indicative, third-person, singularmain verb of the sentence
pourforpour · prepositionpreposition marking toilette
touteall itstout · determiner, feminine, singulardeterminer of toilette
toilettefinerytoilette · noun, feminine, singularoblique argument of a
Grammar«pour tout(e)» + noun — 'as one's only…' «pour toute toilette» means 'as its only attire, for all its dress'. The construction «pour tout X» names the single, meagre thing someone has in place of a whole category: 'for all its X, only…'. The sentence runs over into line 3, where «Qu'un diadème» supplies that one thing — a crown is the spectre's entire wardrobe.
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grotesquely planted on its skeleton brow,
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but a hideous diadem reeking of carnival.
Word«sentir» + bare noun — 'to smell of' «sentir le X» (with no article) means 'to smell of / reek of X', and figuratively 'to have the air of, to smack of'. «sentant le carnaval» = 'smelling of carnival, with a carnival reek'. The crown is not regal but a cheap masquerade prop — Death dressed up for a festival of the dead.
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Without spurs, without whip, it winds a horse,
Word«essouffler» — to leave breathless «essouffler» means 'to wind, to make breathless' (from «souffle», breath); more often reflexive, «s'essouffler» = 'to get out of breath'. Here it is transitive: the rider «essouffle un cheval» — drives the horse breathless — yet «sans éperons, sans fouet», with neither spurs nor whip, the apparition needing no goad.
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a phantom like itself, an apocalyptic nag,
Word«une rosse» — a nag «une rosse» is a worn-out, broken-down horse — a 'nag' or 'jade'. Set against «apocalyptique», it deflates the grandeur: this is the pale horse of the Apocalypse (Revelation 6:8), but a sorry, spavined one. «comme lui» ('like it / like him') makes horse and rider a matched pair of ghosts.
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drooling from its nostrils like an epileptic.
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Through the void the two of them plunge on together,
Grammar«s'enfoncer» — reflexive 'to sink, plunge' «s'enfoncer» is the pronominal of «enfoncer» (to drive in): 'to sink, plunge, bury oneself, press deeper in'. «ils s'enfoncent» = 'they sink/plunge in', the pair driving themselves ever deeper «au travers de l'espace» ('through space, across the void'). «tous deux» = 'both, the two of them'.
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and trample the infinite with a reckless hoof.
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The horseman sweeps a sabre that blazes
Word«promener» — to move (something) about «promener» literally means 'to take for a walk'; used transitively of a thing it means 'to move/pass/sweep (it) over or about'. «promène un sabre… sur les foules» = 'sweeps a sabre over the crowds'. The verb makes the slaughter idle, a leisurely stroll of the blade across nameless multitudes that «sa monture broie» — that its mount grinds down.
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over the nameless crowds his mount grinds down,
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and rides through, like a prince inspecting his house,
GrammarPresent participle as an active simile «inspectant» is the present participle of «inspecter» ('inspecting'), here describing «un prince» mid-action: 'like a prince inspecting his house(hold)'. «sa maison» carries the older sense of a princely 'house' — estate and retinue. The simile makes Death a landlord touring his domain, the graveyard of all history his property.
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the cemetery, vast and cold, without horizon,
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where there lie, in the glimmer of a wan, dull sun,
Grammar«gésir» — the verb of 'here lies' «gisent» is the third-person plural of «gésir», the defective, literary verb 'to lie (stretched out)', surviving chiefly in the tomb formula «ci-gît» ('here lies'). «Où gisent… Les peuples» = 'where the peoples lie'. The verb is inverted before its subject «Les peuples de l'histoire» in the next line, so the dead are kept waiting until the final word — and «gésir» itself summons the epitaph.
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the peoples of ancient and of modern history.

The particulars

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