{"id":7672,"date":"2011-06-23T20:11:12","date_gmt":"2011-06-24T00:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=7672"},"modified":"2017-10-19T14:18:46","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T12:18:46","slug":"baudelaires-les-fleurs-du-mal-the-flowers-of-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/baudelaires-les-fleurs-du-mal-the-flowers-of-evil\/","title":{"rendered":"Baudelaire’s “Les Fleurs du Mal” (The Flowers of Evil)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unbeknownst to many French people, Charles Baudelaire has for long cultivated “un jardin secret<\/span><\/a>” <\/em>(“a secret garden.”) But make no mistake about it, ladies and gentlemen: That was by no means an ordinary garden…<\/span><\/div>\n

\nThe “flowers” he grew in there were in fact so evil that they did not require the services of\u00a0un jardinier <\/em>(a gardner), but rather the special intervention of a highly experienced exorcist<\/span><\/a>!<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/em>Today, you’re invited to discover (or probably re-discover) a deemed “classic<\/strong>” of French\u00a0po\u00e9sie<\/strong><\/em> (poetry), extracted from\u00a0“Les Fleurs du Mal<\/em>” <\/strong>of\u00a0Charles Baudelaire<\/strong>. Credits of the translation\u00a0goes to\u00a0Jacques LeClercq<\/strong>,\u00a0“Flowers of Evil<\/strong>” (1958.)<\/span><\/div>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=s-Q87doHJlA<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
Viens-tu du ciel profond ou sors-tu de l’ab\u00eeme,
\nO Beaut\u00e9?
\nTon regard, infernal et divin,
\nVerse confus\u00e9ment le bienfait et le crime,Et l’on peut pour cela te comparer au vin.\u00a0Tu contiens dans ton oeil le couchant et l’aurore;
\nTu r\u00e9pands des parfums comme un soir orageux;
\nTes baisers sont un philtre et ta bouche une amphore
\nQui font le h\u00e9ros l\u00e2che et l’enfant courageux.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span>Sors-tu du gouffre noir ou descends-tu des astres?
\nLe Destin charm\u00e9 suit tes jupons comme un chien;
\nTu s\u00e8mes au hasard la joie et les d\u00e9sastres,
\nEt tu gouvernes tout et ne r\u00e9ponds de rien.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>Tu marches sur des morts, Beaut\u00e9, dont tu te moques;
\nDe tes bijoux l’Horreur n’est pas le moins charmant,
\nEt le Meurtre, parmi tes plus ch\u00e8res breloques,
\nSur ton ventre orgueilleux danse amoureusement.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

L’\u00e9ph\u00e9m\u00e8re \u00e9bloui vole vers toi, chandelle,
\nCr\u00e9pite, flambe et dit: B\u00e9nissons ce flambeau!
\nL’amoureux pantelant inclin\u00e9 sur sa belle
\nA l’air d’un moribond caressant son tombeau.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Que tu viennes du ciel ou de l’enfer, qu’importe,
\n\u00d4 Beaut\u00e9! monstre \u00e9norme, effrayant, ing\u00e9nu!
\nSi ton oeil, ton souris, ton pied, m’ouvrent la porte
\nD’un Infini que j’aime et n’ai jamais connu?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

De Satan ou de Dieu, qu’importe? Ange ou Sir\u00e8ne,
\nQu’importe, si tu rends, \u2014 f\u00e9e aux yeux de velours,
\nRythme, parfum, lueur, \u00f4 mon unique reine! \u2014
\nL’univers moins hideux et les instants moins lourds?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Did you fall from high heaven or surge from the abyss,O Beauty?Your bright gaze, infernal and divine,<\/span>
\n Confusedly pours out courage and cowardice,\u00a0<\/span>Or love and crime.<\/span>Therefore men liken you to wine.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your eyes hold all the sunset and the dawn, you are<\/span><\/p>\n

As rich in fragrances as a tempestuous night,<\/span><\/p>\n

Your kisses are a philtre and your mouth a jar<\/span><\/p>\n

Filling the child with valor and the man with fright.<\/span><\/p>\n

Did the stars mould you or the pit’s obscurity?<\/span><\/p>\n

You bring at random Paradise or Juggernaut.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fate sniffs your skirts with a charmed dog’s servility,<\/span><\/p>\n

You govern all and yet are answerable for naught.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beauty, you walk on corpses of dead men you mock.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among your store of gems, Horror is not the least;<\/span><\/p>\n

Murder, amid the dearest trinkets of your stock,<\/span><\/p>\n

Dances on your proud belly like a ruttish beast.<\/span><\/p>\n

Candle, the transient moth flies dazzled to your light,<\/span><\/p>\n

Crackles and flames and says: “Bless\u00e8d this fiery doom!”<\/span><\/p>\n

The panting lover with his mistress in the night<\/span><\/p>\n

Looks like a dying man caressing his own tomb.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are you from heaven or hell, Beauty that we adore?<\/span><\/p>\n

Who cares? A dreadful, huge, ingenuous monster, you!<\/span><\/p>\n

So but your glance, your smile, your foot open a door<\/span><\/p>\n

Upon an Infinite I love but never knew.<\/span><\/p>\n

From Satan or from God? Who cares? Fierce or serene,<\/span><\/p>\n

Who cares? Sister to sirens or to seraphim?<\/span><\/p>\n

So but, dark fey, you shed your perfume, rhythm and sheen<\/span><\/p>\n

To make the world less hideous and Time less grim.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unbeknownst to many French people, Charles Baudelaire has for long cultivated “un jardin secret” (“a secret garden.”) But make no mistake about it, ladies and gentlemen: That was by no means an ordinary garden… The “flowers” he grew in there were in fact so evil that they did not require the services of\u00a0un jardinier (a…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[55320,55321,10917,10914,12599],"class_list":["post-7672","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-vocabulary","tag-charles-beaudelaire","tag-exocism","tag-fleurs-du-mal","tag-flowers-of-evil","tag-jardin-secret"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7672"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28300,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7672\/revisions\/28300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}