{"id":2335,"date":"2010-11-12T15:38:31","date_gmt":"2010-11-12T15:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=2335"},"modified":"2014-06-11T19:49:45","modified_gmt":"2014-06-11T17:49:45","slug":"lennemi-the-enemy-charles-baudelaire-les-fleurs-du-mal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/lennemi-the-enemy-charles-baudelaire-les-fleurs-du-mal\/","title":{"rendered":"L’ennemi (The Enemy) — Charles Baudelaire, “Les Fleurs du Mal”"},"content":{"rendered":"
Three years before he joined l’autre monde <\/em><\/strong>(the\u00a0Other World), Baudelaire had this to say about his vision of reality, and its levels of existence:
\n
\n– “J’ai quelques convictions, dans un sens plus \u00e9lev\u00e9, et qui ne peut pas \u00eatre compris par les gens de mon temps.”
\n<\/strong><\/em>Meaning:<\/div>\n

– “<\/em>I have a few convictions, in a higher sense, which cannot be understood by the people of my time.”<\/p>\n

By declaring that, Baudelaire proves, contrary to what is generally assumed of him,\u00a0that he is not un homme de son temps<\/em><\/strong> (a man of his time.)<\/p>\n

In an era where\u00a0le romantisme<\/strong> <\/em>is the word of the day, Baudelaire tells us that beyond the physical world, beyond space, and especially beyond le temps<\/strong><\/em> (time),\u00a0he senses another level. A higher one.<\/p>\n

Baudelaire does not say it, but he is alluding to the\u00a0transcendental; to what Platon<\/strong> (Plato) calls\u00a0le monde des id\u00e9es <\/strong><\/em>(the World of Ideas.)<\/p>\n

All his life, he\u00a0entertained the intuition of it.<\/p>\n

Perhaps was he aiming at a certain<\/p>\n

maturit\u00e9 <\/strong>?<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Maybe.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether he reached it or not, it was only a matter of<\/p>\n

time.<\/strong><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

And time <\/strong>is precisely\u00a0the object of\u00a0his poem.<\/strong><\/p>\n

C’est une course contre la montre (a time race.)<\/p>\n

Time is l’ennemi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bDW-VJK-RJw<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ma jeunesse ne fut qu’un t\u00e9n\u00e9breux orage,
\nTravers\u00e9 \u00e7\u00e0 et l\u00e0 par de brillants soleils;
\nLe tonnerre et la pluie ont fait un tel ravage,
\nQu’il reste en mon jardin bien peu de fruits vermeils.Voil\u00e0 que j’ai touch\u00e9 l’automne des id\u00e9es,
\nEt qu’il faut employer la pelle et les<\/strong> r\u00e2teaux
\nPour rassembler \u00e0 neuf les<\/strong> terres inond\u00e9es,
\nO\u00f9 l’eau creuse des trous grands comme des tombeaux.Et qui sait si<\/strong> les<\/strong> fleurs<\/strong> nouvelles que je r\u00eave
\nTrouveront dans ce sol lav\u00e9 comme une gr\u00e8ve
\nLe mystique aliment qui ferait leur vigueur?\u2014 \u00d4 douleur! \u00f4 douleur! Le Temps mange la vie,
\nEt l’obscur Ennemi qui nous ronge le coeur
\nDu sang que nous perdons cro\u00eet et se fortifie!
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/td>\n

\u00a0My youth was nothing but a black storm
\nCrossed now and then by brilliant suns.
\nThe thunder and the rain so ravage the shores
\nNothing’s left of the fruit my garden held once.I should employ the rake and the plow,
\nHaving reached the autumn of ideas,
\nTo restore this inundated ground
\nWhere the deep grooves of water form tombs in the lees.And who knows if the new flowers you dreamed
\nWill find in a soil stripped and cleaned
\nThe mystic nourishment that fortifies?\u2014O Sorrow\u2014O Sorrow\u2014Time consumes Life,
\nAnd the obscure enemy that gnaws at my heart
\nUses the blood that I lose to play my part.Translated by William A. Sigler<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three years before he joined l’autre monde (the\u00a0Other World), Baudelaire had this to say about his vision of reality, and its levels of existence: – “J’ai quelques convictions, dans un sens plus \u00e9lev\u00e9, et qui ne peut pas \u00eatre compris par les gens de mon temps.” Meaning: – “I have a few convictions, in a…<\/p>\n

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