Condemned Women
Like thoughtful cattle on the yellow sands reclined,They turn their eyes towards the horizon of the sea,Their feet towards each other stretched, their hands entwined,They tell of gentle yearning, frigid misery.
A few, with heart-confiding faith of old, imbuedAmid the darkling grove, where silver streamlets flow,Unfold to each their loves of tender infanthood,And carve the verdant stems of the vine-kissed portico.
And others like unto nuns with footsteps slow and grave,Ascend the hallowed rocks of ancient mystic lore,Where long ago--St. Anthony, like a surging wave,The naked purpled breasts of his temptation saw.
And still some more, that 'neath the shimmering masses stroll,Among the silent chasm of some pagan caves,To soothe their burning fevers unto thee they callO Bacchus! who all ancient wounds and sorrow laves.
And others again, whose necks in scapulars delight,Who hide a whip beneath their garments secretly,Commingling, in the sombre wood and lonesome night,The foam of torments and of tears with ecstasy.
O virgins, demons, monsters, and O martyred brood!Great souls that mock Reality with remorseless sneers,O saints and satyrs, searchers for infinitude!At times so full of shouts, at times so full of tears!
You, to whom within your hell my spirit flies,Poor sisters--yea, I love you as I pity you,For your unsatiated thirsts and anguished sighs,And for the vials of love within your hearts so true.
Words in this poem
- reclined a.
- Falling or turned downward; reclinate.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- darkling a.
- Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
- shimmering n.
- A gleam or glimmering.
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- sombre n.
- Gloom; obscurity; duskiness; somberness.
- lonesome a.
- Secluded from society; not frequented by human beings; solitary.
- remorseless a.
- Being without remorse; having no pity; hence, destitute of sensibility; cruel; insensible to distress; merciless.
- infinitude n.
- The quality or state of being infinite, or without limits; infiniteness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Condemned Women is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Flowers of Evil, Project Gutenberg ebook #36098; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Charles Baudelaire, Condemned Women, in The Flowers of Evil (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36098, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/baudelaire-flowers-of-evil/condemned-women.html, id L25444.
Form and metre
Condemned Women is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 2 of the 7 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is alexandrines, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in alexandrines.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-A- reclinedA · sea · entwinedA · misery
- 2 -A-A imbued · flowA · infanthood · porticoA
- 3 A-A- graveA · lore · waveA · saw
- 4 -A-A stroll · cavesA · call · lavesA
- 5 A-A- delightA · secretly · nightA · ecstasy
- 6 ABAB broodA · sneersB · infinitudeA · tearsB
- 7 ABAB fliesA · youB · sighsA · trueB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against alexandrines. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Like thoughtful cattle on the yellow sands reclined, | 12 | ·/˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| They turn their eyes towards the horizon of the sea, | 12 | ······˘/˘··· |
| Their feet towards each other stretched, their hands entwined, | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| They tell of gentle yearning, frigid misery. | 12 | ···/˘/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| A few, with heart-confiding faith of old, imbued | 12 | ····˘/˘···˘/ |
| Amid the darkling grove, where silver streamlets flow, | 12 | ˘/·/˘··/˘··· |
| Unfold to each their loves of tender infanthood, | 12 | ˘/·····/˘/˘˘ |
| And carve the verdant stems of the vine-kissed portico. | 13 | ···/˘·····/˘· |
| And others like unto nuns with footsteps slow and grave, | 13 | ·/˘·····/···· |
| Ascend the hallowed rocks of ancient mystic lore, | 12 | ˘/·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Where long ago--St. Anthony, like a surging wave, | 12 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| The naked purpled breasts of his temptation saw. | 12 | ·/˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| And still some more, that 'neath the shimmering masses stroll, | 12 | ·······/˘/˘· |
| Among the silent chasm of some pagan caves, | 12 | ···/˘/˘··/˘· |
| To soothe their burning fevers unto thee they call | 12 | ···/˘/˘····· |
| O Bacchus! who all ancient wounds and sorrow laves. | 12 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘· |
| And others again, whose necks in scapulars delight, | 13 | ·/˘˘/······˘/ |
| Who hide a whip beneath their garments secretly, | 12 | ·······/˘/˘˘ |
| Commingling, in the sombre wood and lonesome night, | 12 | ˘/˘··/˘··/˘· |
| The foam of torments and of tears with ecstasy. | 12 | ···/·····/˘˘ |
| O virgins, demons, monsters, and O martyred brood! | 12 | ·/˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Great souls that mock Reality with remorseless sneers, | 12 | ····˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| O saints and satyrs, searchers for infinitude! | 12 | ·····/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| At times so full of shouts, at times so full of tears! | 12 | ············ |
| You, to whom within your hell my spirit flies, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Poor sisters--yea, I love you as I pity you, | 12 | ·/˘······/˘· |
| For your unsatiated thirsts and anguished sighs, | 12 | ········/˘˘· |
| And for the vials of love within your hearts so true. | 13 | ···/˘········ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.