Dr. Prinsky
Humn. 2002: World Humanities II

Notes and Questions on Stephane Mallarmé's "L'Aprés-Midi D'un Faune" ("[The] Afternoon of a Faun")

Read the section on Symbolism (pp. 2331-2333) in the NAWME introduction "Realism, Symbolism, and European Realities," which includes reference to French symbolist poetry, and, in particular, Mallarmé.

Translations and Editions of Mallarmé's "L'Aprés-Midi D'un Faune"  (listed alphabetically by translator)

Fowlie, Wallace. Mallarmé. 1953; rpt. Chicago: Phoenix Books - U of Chicago P, 1962. [168-70.]

MacIntyre, C.F., ed. and trans.  Stephane Mallarmé: Selected Poems. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: U of California P, 1959. [46-55]

Terry, Patricia, and Maurice Shroder, trans. "The Afternoon of a Faun." In Stephane Mallarmé: Selected Poetry and Prose. Ed. Mary Ann Caws. New York: New Directions Books, 1982. [32-41.]

The Translations, Side by Side
 
 
Fowlie translation MacIntyre translation Terry & Shroder translation
I want to perpetuate these nymphs.
                                                          So clear,
Their light rose color, that it floats into the air
Heavy with the sleep of the woods.

                                  Did I love a dream?
My doubt, accretion of ageing night, ends
On their brances, which, reamining the real
Woods prove, alas, that alone I offered to 
                   myself
As a triumph the ideal fault of roses.
Let me reflect . . . 

       or whether the women whom you explain
Figure a desire of your fabulous senses!
Faun, the illusion escapes from the blue cold
Eyes, like a spring weeping, of the more 
                chaste girl:
But, the other one all sighs, would you say
                that she contrasts
Like the warm breath of day in your fleece?
But no! in the motionless and tired faint
Suffocating with heat, the cool morning, if it 
               struggles,
Does not murmur with any water which my 
              flute doesn't pour
Over the wood sprinkled with chords; and 
             only the wind
Out of the two pipes to exhale before
Dispersing the sound in an arid rain,
It is, on the horizon, not disturbed by a line,
The visible and serene artificial breath
Of inspiration returning to the sky.

O Sicilian edges of a calm swamp
Which to the envy of suns my vanity 
             destroys,
Tacit under flowers of sparks, TELL
"That here I cut empty reeds conquered
By talent; when, on the green gold of distant
Verdure dedicating its vines to fountains,
Floats an animal whiteness at rest:
And that at the slow prelude where the pipes 
            are born
That flight of swans, no! of nymphs escapes
Or plunges . . . "

            Inert, everything burns in the dark hour
Without showing with what art together 
                 scampered off
Too much marriage desired by him who looks 
                for A:
Then I shall awake to the first fervor
Upright and alone, in an ancient flood of light,
Lillies! and one of you for ingenuousness.

Other than that soft nothing scarcely sounded
               by their lips,
The kiss, which low assures perfidiousness,
My chest, virginal of proof, shows a 
               mysterious
Bite, due to some august tooth;
But enough! Such a secret chose for 
               confident
The vast and twin reed we play on under the 
                sky:
Which reed, turning back to oneself the 
                emotion of the cheek,
Dreams, in a long solo, that we amused
The beauty of this place by false
Confusion between itself and our credulous 
                 song;
And [dreams] of performing so high that love 
                 will modulate for itself
-- As vanishing from the ordinary dreams of a 
                 back
Or a pure flank followed by my closed eyes, --
A sonorous vain and monotonous line.

Try then, instrument of flights, O cunning
Flute, to reflower at the lake where you await 
                 me!
I, proud of my noise, am going to speak at 
                length
Of goddesses; and by idolatrous paintings,
Continue to remove belts from their shadows:
Thus, when i have sucked the light from the 
                grapes,
To banish a regret dispelled by my pretence,
Laughing, I raise to the summer sky the 
                empty bunch
And blowing into their luminous skins, avid
With drunkenness, until evening I look 
               through them.

O nymphs, let us inflate diverse memories.
"My eye, piercing the reeds, looked at each 
               immortal
Neck, which dips in the water its burning
With a cry of rage toward the forest's sky;
And the splendid bath of hair disappears
In the myriad lights and shimmerings, O 
             precious stones!
I hasten; when, at my feet, are embraced 
            (bruised
With the languor coming from the pain of 
             being two)
The sleeping girls amid their relaxed arms;
I seize them, without separating them, and fly
To that mound, hated by the frivolous shade,
Of Roses drying all perfume in the sun,
Where our struggle is similar to the consumed
             day."
I worship you, anger of virgins, O terrified
Delight of the sacred nude burden which 
            escapes
To avoid my burning lips, like a flash
Trembles! the secret terror of the flesh:
From the feet of the inhuman one to the heart 
           of the timid
Whom an innocence abandons at the same 
           time, humid
With mad tears or with less sad humors.
"My crime, was to have, happy at calming 
           those treacherous
Fears, divided the loosened hair
Of kisses which the gods so well combined:
For, scarcely had I hidden my passionate 
             laughter
Under the happy folds of one of them 
             (holding
With a single finger, so that her feather 
             whiteness
Should be tinted at the emotion of her sister 
             growing excited,
The smaller one, naive and not blushing:
When from my arms, relaxed by vague deaths,
That prey, for every ungrateful, liberates itself
Without pity for the sob with which I was still
             drunk."

I don't care! toward happiness others will lead
              me
By their tresses entwined about the horns of 
             my brow.
You know, my passion, that, red and ripe 
            already,
Each pomegranate bursts and murmurs with 
            bees;
And our blood, in love with whom is going to 
           seize it,
Flows for the eternal swarm of desire.
At the moment when the wood is tinted with 
          gold and ashes
A celebration resounds in the extinguished 
          foliage:
Etna! it is on you visited by Venus
On your lava placing her innocent feet,
When a sad sleep thunders or the flame itself 
           dies.
I hold the queen!

             O sure punishment . . . 

                           No, but my soul
Empty of words and my heavy body
Succumb late to the proud silence of noon:
Without more I must sleep in forgetting the 
            blasphemy,
Lying on the thirsty sand and how I love
To open my mouth to the potent star of 
            wines!

 

I would perpetuate these nymphs.
                                                       So clear,
their light carnation, that it drifts on the air
drowsy with tufted slumbers.

                                 So I loved a dream?
My doubt, a mass of ancient night, concludes
in many a subtle branch, which, since the real 
                        woods
remain, proves, alas, what I offered to myself
as triumph was the ideal lack of roses.
Let's think it over . . . 

                               if those girls you explain
be but an itching in your fabulous brain!
Faun, the illusion escapes from the blue eyes
and cold of the more chaste, like a weeping 
                        spring:
but thte other one, all sighs, you say, 
                        contrasts
like a day-breeze warm upon your fleece!
But no! through the immobile and heavy 
                           swoon
stifling with heat the cool morning if it resists,
murmurs no water but that poured from my 
                            flute
on the grove sprinkled with harmonies; the 
                           only wind
prompt to exhale from the twin-pipes before
it can disperse the sound in an arid rain,
is, on the horizon unstirred by a wrinkle,
the visible and serene artificial breath
of inspiration, which regains the sky.
O Sicilian borders of a peaceful marsh
which like unto the sun my vanity plunders,
tacit under the flowers of sparks, RELATE
"How I was cutting here the hollow reeds
tamed by my talent; when, on the glaucous 
                          gold
of distant verdures dedicating their vines
to the fountains, undulated an animal 
                         whiteness,
reposing: and to the slow prelude whence the
                         pipes
are born, this flight of swans, no! of Naides
goes scampering off or dives . . . "

                                      Inert, all things
burn in the tawny hour, not noticing
by what art together fled this too much hymen
desired by who seeks of la: then I'll awaken
to the primal fervor, erect and alone,
under the antique flood of light, O lilies!
and the one among you all for artlessness.

Besides this sweet nothing by their lips made 
                        known,
the kiss, that reveals, though hushed, some 
                        faithless ones,
my breast, virgin of proof, vouches a bite,
mysterious, from some illustrious tooth;
but enough! as confidant such arcanum chose
the great twin-reeds one plays beneath the 
                       azure:
which, diverting to themselves the cheeks' 
                       excitement,
dream, in a long solo, that we may amuse
the beauties hereabout by false confusions
between them even and our credulous song;
and to make as high as love can modulate
vanish from the banal dream of backs
or pure flanks pursued in my closed eyes,
a sonorous and vain, monotonous line.
Try them, instrument of flights, O evil
Syrinx, to flower again by the lakes where you
                       wait!
Proud of my noise, I am going to talk at length
of the goddesses; and by idolatrous paintings
to lift again the cinctures from their shadows:
so, when I have sucked the bright juice of the
                      grapes,
to banish a regret by my pretense discarded, 
laughing, I raise to the summer sky the empty
hulls and, puffing into these luminous skins,
craving drunkenness, I gaze through them till 
                      evening.

O nymphs, we swell with divers MEMORIES.
"Piercing the reeds, my eyes speared each 
                      immortal
neck, that drowns its burning in the water
with a cry of rage flung to the forest sky; 
and the splendid bath of tresses disappeared
in shimmerings and shiverings, O jewels!
I rush up; when, at my feet, entwine (bruised
by the languour drunk from this harm of 
                    being two)
girls sleeping in each other's perilous arms;
I seize them, not untangling them, and run
to this clump, hated by the frivolous shade,
of roses exhausting all their scent in the sun,
where our frolic should be like a squandered
                    day."
I adore you, anger of virgins, O fierce delight
of the sacred naked burden that slips to flee
the fiery drinking of my lips, like the crack
of lightning! the secret terror of the flesh:
from the feet of the heartless one to the heart
                  of the timid
abandoned at the same time by an innocence,
                   humid
with foolish tears or less melancholy vapors.

"My crime is, gay at vanquishing their
                  traitress-
fears, to have parted the disheveled tangle
of kisses that the gods kept so well mingled;
for I was just going to hide a glowing laugh
in the happy creases of one (even while I kept
with only a finger--so that her plume's 
                candor
should be stained by the frenzy of her sister
who burned--the little one, naive, not 
               blushing a bit:)
when from my arms, relaxed by the vague 
              death,
this prey, forever ungrateful, frees itself,
not pitying the sob that still bedrunkened 
              me."

Too bad! but others will lead me toward 
             happiness,
knotting the horns on my brow with many a 
             tress;
you know, my passion, how crimson and 
            already ripe,
every pomegranate bursts and murmurs with 
             bees;
and our blood, burning for who is going to 
             receive it,
flows for all the eternal swarm of desire.
At the hour when this wood is stained with 
             gold and ashes
a feast exults among extinguished leaves:
Etna! it is on you visited by Venus
upon your lava setting her candid feet
when thunders a sad slumber or the flame 
              expires.
I embrace the queen!

                  Sure punishment . . . 

                                    No, but the spirit
empty of words now and the body numbed
unto noon's haughty silence at last succumb:
enough! on the thirsty sand, forgetful of
the outrage, I must sleep, and as I love
open my mouth to the powerful star of wine!

Sweet pair, farewell. I shall see the shades you
                 become.

 

I would perpetuate these nymphs.
                                                       So clear,
The glow of them, so nimble in the air
Drowsiness encumbers -- 

                                         Did I dream that love?
My doubt, the hoard of ancient night, divides
In subtle branches, which, the only woods
Remaining, prove, alas! that all alone
I triumphed in the ideal fault of roses.
Reflect . . . 

                   or if the women you malign
Configurate your fabled senses' wish!
That error flees before the chaste nymph's 
                    eyes,
As blue and cold, Faun, as a weeping stream.
But, for the other, would she not compare,
All sighs, to day's warm breezes in your 
                     fleece?
No! through this immobile lassitude
That stifles any protest from cool morning,
No water murmurs but the harmony
My flute pours on the grove; the only wind,
Quick to exhale from the two pipes, before
It dissipates the sound in arid rain,
Is, on the smooth horizon nothing moves,
The visible, serene, and artificial breath
Of inspiration, homing to the sky.

O you Sicilian shores of a calm marsh,
Which, rivaling suns, my vanity lays waste,
Silent beneath the flowers of light, RELATE
"I was cutting here the hollow reeds by talent
Mastered; against the distant glaucous gold
Of foliage offering its vines to streams,
Undulates animal whiteness in repose;
And, when the pipes are born in slow prelude,
A flight of swans, no! naiads hastens off
Or dives . . . "

                     Inert, all burns in the tawny hour
With no sign of the wiles by which escaped
That nuptial surfeit the musician sought.
Then to my native fervor I'll awake,
Upright, alone in ancient floods of light,
Lilies! and by my innocence you peer.
Save this sweet nothing rumored by their lips,
The kiss, mute witness to their perfidy,
Untouched by any proof, my chest reveals
Mysterious marks of sacramental teeth:
Enough! if such arcana deign to speak,
It is through vast twin reeds played under 
                       heaven,
Which, turning to themselves the cheek's 
                       emotion,
In an endless solo, dream that we amused
The beauty here around us, foolishly
Equating it with our own credulous song;
And of abstracting from the banal vision,
Contours of back or breast traced by closed 
                         eyes,
As high as love itself can modulate,
A sonorous, futile, uninflected line.

Try then, malicious Syrinx, instrument
Of flight, to flower anew beside our lakes!
As for me, proud of my voice, I'll speak at 
                           length
Of those divinities and by idolatrous
Depictions strip yet more veils from their 
                             shade.
Thus, when I've sucked the brightness out of 
                             grapes,
To chase regret deflected by my feint,
I lift the empty cluster to the sky,
Laughing, and, wild to be drunk, inflate
The shining skins and look through them till 
                               night.

O nymphs, let us inflate our MEMORIES.
"Piercing the reeds, my gaze stabs deathless
Throats, which drown their burning in the 
                                wave
With cries of outrage to the forest sky; 
The splendid shower of tresses disappears
In a shimmering of precious gems! I lunge;
And there, entangled at my feet (cast down
By languour in the pain of being two)
Lie sleeping nymphs, at risk in their embrace;
I carry them off, still intertwined, and fly
To that high garden frivolous shadow scorns,
Where roses yield their fragrance to the sun
And, like the day, our sport may be 
                               consumed."
I love you, wrath of virgins, savage bliss --
The sacred naked burden as it writhes
To flee the fiery lightning of my lips,
While, from the cruel one's feet to the shy 
                               one's heart,
I drink the secret terror of the flesh;
And innocence, all moist with frenzied tears
Or with less woeful vapors, quits them both.
"Gay with the conquest of those treacherous 
                               fears,
I sinned when I divided that disheveled
Bouquet of kisses mingled by the gods;
For, as I moved to hide an ardent laugh
Deep amid joyous curves (and only held
By one sole finger, that her sister's kindling
Might lend its color to her downy whiteness,
The little one, unblushing and naive)
Then, from my arms, undone as if by death,
This prey, ungrateful to the end, breaks free,
Spurning the sob that kept me drunken still."

Who cares! their tresses knotted on my horns,
Others will draw me on toward happiness.
You know, my passion, that, crimson now and
                             ripe,
Pomegranates burst in a hum of bees:
Our blood, enamored of its tyrant, flows
For the eternal swarming of desire.
When these woodlands take the hues of ash 
                            and gold,
Rejoicing quickens in the darkened leaves:
Etna! in your midst, where Venus comes,
Touching your lava with ingenuous feet,
When thunders sorry sleep or the flame burns 
                            dry.
I hold the queen!

                      Sure punishment . . . 

                                                     No, the soul
Empty of words and this now torpid flesh
To noon's proud silence all too late succumb.
I must forget that blasphemy in sleep,
Laid out on thirsty sand, mouth open wide --
Oh, delight! -- to wine's effectual star.

Couple, farewell; I'll see the shade that you 
                            became.
 

 

The following is a good summary by Professor Frank Luttmer of the University of Hanover, with some adaptation:  "Stephane Mallarme (1842-98) was one of the pioneers of modern poetry. He created poetry that was experimental, combining words and images that were -- like music -- mysterious, ambiguous, and open to interpretation. "Afternoon of a Faun," a monologue by the Faun (not the deer but a minor deity like a satyr or like Bacchus), is loosely based on the myth of the god Pan's attempt to seduce the beautiful nymph Syrinx. Fauns and nymphs are minor forest deities in ancient mythology. In the myth, just as Pan had caught and embraced Syrinx, fellow nymphs came to her rescue and magically turned her into a sheaf of reeds. In his sigh of regret at losing Syrinx, Pan breathaed air into the reeds and discovered the beauty of music -- creating what is still called the "Pan pipes" (as Syrinx is still sometimes used as a literary term referring to the instrument). Mallarmé's poem does not follow the same story-line as the original myth, but his faun does attempt to seduce two nymphs (a "threesome," or "three-way," to use the vulgar colloquial term; the fancier term is "troilism"), does play music, and is frustrated from realizing his goal -- perhaps (this is left ambiguous). The poem begins with the faun waking up from a dream (did he have sex or didn't he?) and ends with him falling asleep, wine by his side, to return to his pleasant dreams.  (Men are not like this today.) In between, he tells about his efforts to seduce the nymphs, though he is not entirely clear whether he is describing real events, memories, or dreams.  He does have some tangible evidence: he refers to a bite mark on his neck, which today would be called a "hi-----."

Debussy obviously found the beautiful nature, musical component repeated in the poem, dreams, etc., very appealing, and was moved to create a musical analogue. (See the comments about Debussy in the music textbook for the course.)