WAYNE GUYMON

AN EXERCISE IN SEMANTIC ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION

From the point of view of the literary critic, one of the most significant
developments in linguistics during the past decade has been the notable
increase in interest in problems of a purely semantic nature. But although
linguists are more concerned today with semantic problems than pre-
viously, they continue for the most part to limit their analyses to units
no larger than the single sentence. As a result much of their work is of
limited value to the Student of literature who correctly senses that the
meaning of a poem or novel is not simply the sum of the meaning of its
constituent sentences. Thus it is surprising that, despite the difficulties
created by its specialized vocabulary, A. J. Greimas' Semantique struc-
turale1 has attracted so little interest outside of France among those
engaged in the study of literature. For unlike the majority of linguists,
Greimas devotes a great deal of attention to the problems of semantic
analysis of texts larger than the sentence. Illuminating the mechanisms
of poetic metaphor and ambiguity, clarifying hazy notions about narra-
tive structure, he sheds new light on areas once the reserve of the literary
critic alone. The following paper is an attempt to focus that light on a
specific work of literature and thus to explore more fully the explanatory
powers of the Greimasian model of the semantic universe. Also, inasmuch
äs any application may give rise to new insights, an attempt will be
made to develop further certain aspects of the basic theory, in particular
the concept of isotopy.
Although care has been taken to anticipate problems of vocabulary
and to provide both working definitions of crucial terms and references
to fuller explanations, familiarity with Semantique structurale will
undoubtedly facilitate matters. For some the effort made to be äs explicit
and rigorous äs possible and the consequent use of a technical vocabulary
1
(Paris: Larousse, 1966).
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74 WAYNE GUYMON

may seem somewhat superfluous to the act of literary criticism, if not

simply inimical to it. Clearly the TRUTH VALUE of intuitive, informal
criticism may ultimately be the same äs rigorously formulated criticism,
but its OPERATIONAL VALUE is more limited. As Chomsky points out:
"Obscure and intuition-bound notions can neither lead to absurd con-
clusions nor provide new ones, and hence they fail to be useful in two
important respects".2 This Situation, however, is significantly reversed
in the face of explicit Statements: "By pushing a precise but inadequate
formulation to an unacceptable conclusion, we can often expose the
exact source of this inadequacy and, consequently, gain a deeper under-
standing".3

METHODOLOGY

The analysis consists essentially of two operations: (1) the tabulation

of the various classematic isotopes found in the poem: and (2) the extrac-
tion of the poem's underlying semantic structures. The first Operation is
conducted in conformity with the concept of the isotopy of discourse
äs initially set forth by Greimas4 and subsequently refined by Rastier.5
The latter defines an isotope äs follows:

On appelle isotopie toute itoration d'une unito linguistique. L'isotopie elemen-

taire comprend donc deux unitos de la manifestation linguistique; cela dit,
le nombre des unitos constitutives d'une isotopie est thooriquement mdofini.
Une isotopie a une d&mition syntagmatique, mais non syntaxique: eile n'est
pas structuree; en d'autres termes, il s'agit d'un ensemble non ordonno.6

In the following semantic analysis, the reiterated linguistic units we shall

seek to disengage are the various classemes7 which serve to unite individ-

2
Syntactic Structures (The Hague: Mouton, 1957), p. 5.
3
1957,5.
4
Semantique, 53, 96-100.
5
"Systematique des isotopes", Essais de semiotique poetique, ed. by A. J. Greimas
(Paris: Larousse, 1972), pp. 80-106.
6
Rastier, "Systematique", 82.
7
A few ROUGH definitions may be helpful here: SEME [S]: smallest unit of meaning;
NUCLEAR SEME [Ns]: invariant meaning, i.e., not dependent on context; CLASSEME [Cs]:
contextual seme, variable according to context; SEMEME [Sm]: combination of nuclear
semes and classemes found either in a definition of a lexeme (word) or in context,
i.e. Sm = Ns + Cs.
N.B.: These are working definitions designed only to give the reader unfamiliar
with these terms access to the following text.
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 AN EXERCISE IN SEMANTIC ANALYSIS 75

ual sememes of the poem in a common semiotic System or "champ

somemique".8 The first step in the constitution of such a classematic
isotope is the designation of a particular semiotic System. This allows
us to select those sememes alone which pertain to the selected System
and to exclude those lacking the proper classematic base. For example,
the choice of nineteenth-century interior decor äs the fundamental
System of an isotope would exclude the selection of a sememe like
/äme/ but not the selection of /miroir/. However, äs we shall see, the
semic Opposition between /miroir/ and /äme/ created by the selection
of the above System may be annulled by the designation of a different
System; for the application of a particular semiotic System to a text
valorizes those semic relations pertinent to that System alone and deva-
lorizes or renders non-pertinent all other semic relations. We shall refer
to this devalorization of the Opposition between two sememes on one
level due to their conjunction on another level äs SEMIC SUSPENSION.®
Theoretically, a text could be constructed on the basis of a single
semiotic system. This is the ideal of scientific discourse. In the case of
such a text, a list of the sememes participating in the classematic isotope
of the System would be identical to the text itself. Computer print-outs
are probably the only truly mono-isotopic texts, however. Usually a
single text contains a number of isotopes, and most often these isotopes
are successive along the syntagma of the text. To designate such successive
isotopes, we propose the term SERIAL ISOTOPES. It is also possible that
co-extensive with one isotope there may exist another or even several
other isotopes; we shall call these LAYERED ISOTOPES. Both serial and

8
Rastier considers isotopes of the type discussed in this essay to be semiologic.
According to bim, the individual sememes of a text constitute an isotope "pour peu
que chacun de ces sememes comporte im seme ou un groupement semique commun
aux figures nucleaires de tous les autres sememes". This seme or group of semes is
seen to define a "champ qui constitue l'inventaire des sememes en classe". (Cf. "Syste-
matique des isotopes", 85). However, the notion of SEMIOTIC SYSTEMS seems more
clearly to account for the phenomena actually described by Rastier than does that of
"champ sememique". This designation of the isotope in terms of a system rather
than a field recognizes that it is the classemes which determine the selection of the
various sememes, not the nuclear semes. Thus, the isotopes which follow this introduc-
tion are designated äs CLASSEMATIC ISOTOPES, not äs semiologic isotopes. Note also
that the selection of the semiotic system is often analogous to the designation of what
Kristeva calls an "intertextual ideologeme". Briefly defined the IDEOLOGEME is "cette
fonction intertextuelle que peut lire 'materialisee' aux differents niveaux de la
structure de chaque texte, et qui s'etend tout au long de son trajet en lui donnant ses
coordonnees historiques et sociales" (Le texte du roman [The Hague: Mouton, 1970],
12).
9
For a more general discussion of semic Suspension see Semantique,128.
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76 WAYNE GUYMON

layered isotopes are said to be horizontal in that they are defined in

terms of their own Systems vis-a-vis the syntagma of the text. This is in
contrast to a VERTICAL ISOTOPE which is constructed through the corre-
lation of two layered and co-extensive isotopes in a relation of equivalence
or homology. The vertical correlation of two isotopes successive along
the syntagma rather than co-extensive with it, we shall call an INTEGRATTVE
ISOTOPE.10 IN ALL CASES, THE DIMENSIONS OF AN ISOTOPE ARE DETERMINED
BY THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE DESIGNATED SYSTEM IS APPLICABLE ALONG
THE SYNTAGMA OF THE TEXT.
The concept of layered isotopes necessarily suggests the idea of a
hierarchy of isotopes. In the following analysis, the terms ofthat hierarchy
are essentially binary, corresponding to the notion of deep and surface
isotopes. The distinctive feature of the SURFACE ISOTOPE(S) is the presence
of the classeme 'exteroceptive' which in Greimasian terms places the
isotope in the cosmological dimension of the semantic universe. Deep
isotopes, on the other band, are characterized by the classeme 'intero-
ceptive' and correspond to the neological dimension of the semantic
universe. As more than one such isotope may be found in a single poem
the isotope accounting for the largest number of sememes will be con-
sidered the PRIMARY interoeeptive isotope. The isotope including the
second largest number will be called the SECONDARY interoceptive isotope
and so on. Note that this numerical placement is strictly a descriptive,
and not a qualitative, judgement.
The assignment of the various isotopes to specific dimensions of the
semantic universe is further broken down in the actual analysis to the
level of individual micro-universes according to the Status of the isotope
in relation to the category:

FUNCTION vs QUALIFICATION.

This breakdown of the primary cosmological and noological dimensions

into four separate semantic micro-universes is subsumed in Fig. l.11
In agreement with Greimas, the analysis of the poem's semantic
structures is founded on the following premises:

10
The above terminology is of my own invention and should not be confused with
Rastier's use of certain of these terms.
11
Somantique, 128.
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 AN EXERCISE IN SEMANTIC ANALYSIS 77

1) Un seul terme-objet ne comporte pas de signification; 2) La signification

presuppose l'existence de la relation: c'est l'apparition de la relation entre les
termes qui est la condition necessaire de la signification.12

QUALIF1CATION FUNCTION

COSMOLOGICAL DIMENSION science technology

NOOLOGICAL DIMENSION axiology ideology

Fig. l

Essentially there are two types of relations between terms: ANTONYMIC

and HYPONYMic.13 The former is of the greatest importance here and
includes both the DISJUNCTION and CONJUNCTION of terms. The latter
is the relationship of the parts to the whole, eg., of seme to category.
For example, according to traditional Christianity, the term SPIRITUAL
and the term PHYSICAL constitute the binary articulation of a single
category denominated äs MAN. They stand thus in a hyponymic relation
of conjunction to the category and in a relation of disjunction vis-a-vis
one another äs in Fig. 2.

Semantic Axis
MAN (Denomination)

SPIRITUAL vs PHYSICAL (Articulation)

Semic Category
Fig. 2

The term on the left is said to be positive; the one on the right, negative.14
12
13
Semantique, 19.
14
Semantique, 29.
Such qualifications are descriptive, not value-oriented; positive does not equal
'good' nor negative 'bad' äs a reading of the above axis in terms of certain Christian
ideologies might suggest.
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78 WAYNE GUYMON

A term which is both positive and negative and yet remains subordinate
to the denominator of the axis is said to be complex. Such a term often
plays a mediating role of mythic import. For instance, the Opposition:

MAN vs GOD

is frequently mediated in mythology through an individual who includes

elements of both the human and the divine. Christ is probably the most
familiär figure of this type. The son of God, he was born of an earthly
mother; "being incorruptible, he became corruptible ..." etc. The funda-
mental significance of such triadic, mythic structures should become
evident äs we proceed with the examination of the poem.

THE CORPUS

LA MORT DES AMANTS

Nous aurons des lits pleins d'odeurs log&es,

Des divans profonds comme des tombeaux,
Et d'otranges fleurs sur des &ageres,
ficloses pour nous sous des cieux plus beaux.
Usant ä Fenvi leurs chaleurs dernteres,
Nos deux coeurs seront deux vastes flambeaux,
Qui reflechiront leurs doubles lumteres
Dans nos deux esprits, ces miroirs jumeaux.
Un soir fait de rose et de bleu mystique,
Nous echangerons un oclair unique,
Comme un long sanglot, tout chargo d'adieux;
Et plus tard un Ange, entr'ouvrant les portes,
Viendra ranimer, fid&e et joyeux,
Les miroirs ternis et les flammes mortes.

Charles Baudelaire15

CLASSEMAT1C ISOTOPES:

The first isotope (il) to be disengaged from "La mort des amants" is
based upon a semiotic System best defined äs nineteenth-century domestic

15
CEuvres compfötes, ed. by Y.-G. Le Dantec and C. Kchois (Paris: Pteiade, 1961),
p. 119.
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 AN EXERCISE IN SEMANTIC ANALYSIS 79

affairs. Listing the sememes which pertain to this field between obliques / /
and placing after each a paraphrase to bring out the determinations
necessary for the comprehension of the isotope, we obtain the following:

i l: Domestic Affairs
/amants/: inhabitants of boudoir
/nous/: same äs above
/lits, divans/: id. (furnishings of boudoir)
/fleurs sur des otagdres/: id. (same äs above)
/vastes flambeaux/: id. (torches or candles lighting boudoir)
/miroirs/: id. (furnishings of boudoir)
/portes/: id. (doors of boudoir)
/fidele, joyeux/: id. (important qualities of a maid)16
/ranimer/: to set in Order, i.e., polish mirrors, relight candles
/miroirs ternis/: id.
/flammes mortes/: burnt out candles

In the above, the definition of the anaphoric /nous/ is determined meta-

linguistically on the basis of the System selected. This procedure will
be followed throughout the analysis. Also it should be noted that äs the
metasememes are solely classematic, they are by definition excluded from
the isotope.17 As a result of the selection of this isotope, the poem itself
may be read äs a qualificative plus a functional message,18 i.e.,

Q(boudoir) [Ai (interior)]

F(cleaning) [Ai (maid); A2 (boudoir)]

Both quatrains, especially Ql, participate in the establishment of the

first message; while the final tercet (T2), drawing upon the qualifications
set forth in the quatrains, furnishes the functional message.
The number of sememes which need no paraphrase in order to establish
their identity guarantees the validity of this isotope, but the limited
number of sememes activated suggests the existence of still another,
more fundamental isotope. A literal reading of the poem's title disengages
just such an isotope äs the following list demonstrates:

16
In the first published edition of this poem the domestic qualities of the Angel are
more evident äs "soigneux" appears in place of "joyeux" (CEuvres, 1559).
17
Semantique, 107.
18
The formula employed here is that developed by Greimas, Semantique, 155.
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80 WAYNE GUYMON

2: Death
/mort des amants/: id.
/nous/: those who will die
/lits, divans/: equivalents of/tombeaux/
/tombeaux/: iW.
/profonds/: beneath the earth
/itranges fleurs/: (connotes the ideal known only in death)
/cieux plus beaux/: (connotes the infinite known only in death)
/chaleurs dernieres/: last of vital forces
/coeurs/: synecdoche for bodies
/flambeaux/: equivalent of bodies (connotes mortal, physical nature
of lovers)
/esprits/: id.
/miroirs/: equivalent of souls (connotes immortal, spiritual nature
of lovers)
/un soir/: evening of life
/rose/: (connotes the physical world, see below)
/bleu mystique/: (connotes the spiritual world, see below)
/echangerons/: die
/oclair unique/: death spasm
/sanglot/: death cry
/chargo d'adieux/: farewell to life
/ange/: angel of resurrection
/entr'ouvrant les portes/: doors opening out onto eternity, i.e., the
gates of heaven (cf. "La mort des pauvres", 1. 14)
/ranimer/: resurrect
/fid&e, joyeux/: qualitites of angel
/miroirs ternis/: clouded souls
/flammes mortes/: dead bodies

The message of this isotope is twofold and functional, i.e.,

F(death) [Ai(lovers)]
F(resurrection) [Ai(angel); A2(lovers)]

The ideologeme which permits the reading of these messages is that of

nineteenth-century Christian thought — both practical and mythical19 —
filtered through Baudelaire's personal mythology of death. An example,
of the practical is the sememe /profond/; the 'practice' involved is the
19
These terms are used äs defined by Greimas, Semantique, 120.
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 AN EXERCISE IN SEMANTIC ANALYSIS 81

interment of the dead. The presence of a Christian mythologeme is most

clearly seen in the dual representation of human nature äs Spiritual and
physical, in the designation of an angel äs the agent of resurrection, and
in the reference to the gates of heaven. On a more subtle level, this same
mythologeme is active in the Opposition between the mirror which is
simply tarnished and the flame which is totally extinguished, a Variation
of the familiär Opposition between the eternal soul and the mortal body.
The sememes selected from lines 3 and 4 are based on Baudelaire's
personal mythology äs determined by a study of the two poems which
immediately follow this one in Lesfleurs du mal. Briefly stated, the argu-
ment for coherence between this poem (Pl) and "La mort des pauvres"
(P2) äs well äs "La mort des artistes" (P3) rests upon the simultaneity
of the first publication of Pl and P3 and upon the assumption, based
on extralinguistic data, of a coetaneous composition for all three poems.
The argument is further strengthened by the similarity of their form
(all are sonnets) and of their respective titles and content. Thus the
/otranges fleurs/ of line 3 and the /cieux plus beaux/ are seen äs prefiguring
the flowers of the last line of P3 and the unknown heavens of the final
line of P2 respectively. More will be said about this later. The accurateness
of the paraphrases for the sememes not mentioned so far should be evi-
dent except perhaps in the case of/bleu mystique/ and /rose/. The spiritual
connotations ofbleu are brought out by the qualifying adjective mystique.
Reds, within the sememic field of colors, have traditionally been identified
with passion which suggests the physical.
The exhaustiveness of the above list which covers nearly every sememe
in the poem, äs well äs the complete correspondence between the para-
lexeme of the title and the sememe selected for it, qualify this isotope
äs the dominant isotope of the poem. Nevertheless, there exists at a
level one step removed from i2 another isotope which owes its selection
to a literal reading of /amants/ and a metaphorical reading of /mort/.
This third isotope is descriptive of the sexual relations between the two
lovers. As such it permits the formulation of the functional message:

F(sexual intercourse) [Ai(lovers)].

The following is a list of the sememes pertinent to this isotope:

i3: Love (Sexual intercourse)

/mort des amants/: sexual intercourse
/nous/: the lovers
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82 WAYNE GUYMON

/lits/: sites of intercourse

/divans/: alternate sites of intercourse
/usant ä Fenvi/: making love at their pleasure
/chaleurs/: sexual forces
/coeurs/: synecdoche for bodies
/vastes flambeaux/: aroused and swollen sexual organs (connotes
the physical aspect of love)
/reflochiront/: reciprocal passion of lovers
/esprits/: souls
/miroirs/: equivalent of souls (connotes the spiritual aspect of love)
/un soir/: time of intercourse
/echangerons/: intercourse
/iclair/: climax
/sanglot/: cry often accompanying climax
/Charge d'adieux/: (connotes the breakup of the lovers' relationship)
/ange/: maid (see below)
/ranimer/: stimulate, arouse sexually once again (connotes revival
of the lovers' relationship)
/fiddle, joyeux/: id.
/miroirs ternis/: lessened emotional involvement in one another
/flammes mortes/: flaccid sexual organs (connotes lack of physical
attraction between lovers)

The sememes most unequivocally associated with the sememic field of

sexual intercourse and thus guaranteeing the validity of the isotope are
/amants/ and /lits/. The representation of love äs participating in both
aspects of man's dual nature, spiritual and physical, has a long literary
tradition; and äs a glance at Racine will verify (for example, Ph£dre's
"flamme si noire"), the semantic universe of French literature also
includes the equation:
flamme c^ passion.
Hence the transformation of the hearts into "deux vastes flambeaux"
may be read on the level of connotation äs a hyperbolic Statement of
the lovers' desire for one another. It should also be noted that "iclair"
äs used here is not a sudden flash of lightning from the heavens, but
the final burst of flame which extinguishes the burning torches. As
such it is highly appropriate äs a symbol of sexual climax.
The image of the twin mirrors comes from the language of esoterism
and signifies the mystical correspondance which exists between the
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 AN EXERCISE IN SEMANTIC ANALYSIS 83

souls of the two lovers. Stylistically, the reciprocity of their relationship

is emphasized by the maintenance throughout the poem of the first
person plural; not once is this plural broken down into its constituents,
je and eile.
The selection of 'maid' äs the equivalent of /ange/, suggested by the
same selection in i7, places the poem squarely in the French classical
and neo-classical tradition in which the maid or servant is depicted äs
the arbiter of lovers' quarreis.
The establishment of the above sexual isotope (i3) äs co-extensive
with that of death (12) permits the disengagement of yet another isotope.
However, this fourth and final isotope, unlike the preceding ones, is
vertical and thus radically different from the foregoing isotopes. Here
the unit reiterated in each sememe is a metasemic unit of equivalency
which establishes a correspondence between the sememes of 12 and i3.
The essential points of equivalency are the following:

i4: Mythic correlation

/mort/: sexual intercourse ~ death
/amants/: lovers ~ those who will die
/chaleurs/: sexual forces ^ vital forces
/eclair/: sexual climax ~ death spasm
/ranimer/: arouse sexually ~ resurrect
/flammes mortes/: flaccid sexual organs ~ dead bodies

The significance of this isotope lies not in the simple correlation of ü and
i3 äs the above list seems to indicate, but in the conclusions such a
correlation posits. For example, by reading the correlation listed for
/eclair/ in terms of the proprioceptive category:

EUPHORIA vs DYSPHORIA,20

one arrives at the following: if the sexual climax is euphoric, then the
death spasm is likewise positive.
Considered äs a whole, the above equivalencies are readily seen to
form the basis of an ancient argument attempting to prove the eternal
existence of man by virtue of recurrences in the natural order of things.

20
This primary category, which connotes the "ensemble de la manifestation seman-
tique", is the essential criteria for the determination of both the axiological and the
ideological character of the text. Cf. Semantique, 226.
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84 WAYNE GUYMON

In the traditional Version of this argument, the hoary and sterile old
man is first compared to winter; the unfailing return of spring after
winter is then used to suggest that the winter of old age is merely a
dormantperiod preceding an eternal spring. Here the cycles of the seasons
are replaced by the cycles of sexual Stimulation and climax. The general
conclusion of the isotope is that if the sexual forces are restored in life
following intercourse, then the vital forces shall be restored in eternity
after death. The structure here disengaged is that of the mythic homology
first proposed by L6vi-Strauss21 and later restated by Greimas22 äs
A B_
non A non B.
The establishment of such a correlation between sexual intercourse and
death Stands äs a euphoric affirmation of the eternal nature of man
and äs such it transforms the poem into a truly mythic statement.Love
and death are here united and merged, the one becoming the reflection
of the other.
In summary, the preceding analysis has successively disengaged four
layered isotopes hierarchically arranged such that the first prepares the
way for the realization of the second; the second, for the realization of
the third; the third, for the fourth. U renders the poem äs a 'practical',
i.e., exteroceptive, message qualifying the boudoir. As such it corresponds
to the semantic micro-universe of the scientific, that is, it describes a
Situation in the cosmos. 12 is clearly mythic and dynamic, portraying
the process of death and resurrection. This places it in the micro-universe
of Baudelaire's ideology. The third, on the other band, is practical in
the Greimasian sense of the term. By contrast with the first, however, it
is dynamic rather than qualificative and äs such constitutes a segment of
the micro-universe denominated by Greimas äs technological, that is, it
describes an event in the cosmos. The fourth, a mythic Statement of a
noological relationship (between love and death) rather than a process,
belongs to the micro-universe of Baudelaire's axiology. Thus we have
here a number of layered isotopes, each one dependent on its prede-
cessor(s), which together represent the four basic micro-universes of
the semantic universe proposed by Greimas. The resultant message is
at once classificatory and algorithmic. i2 and i4 are examples of the
classematic commutation of the exteroceptive or cosmological dimension
into that of the noological. To the extent that i3 also represents such
a commutation, it too may be seen äs a mythic Statement. One final
21
Anthropologie structurale (Paris: Plon, 1958), pp. 252-53.
22
Du sens (Paris: Seuil, 1970), p. 119.
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 AN EXERCISE IN SEMANTIC ANALYSIS 85

note: äs Rastier points out in bis presentation of the method used

above, the various isotopes produced by this method are separated by
"une fiction nocessaire ä l'exposo".23 The poetic sense of this sonnet
lies in the simultaneous recognition of all four isotopes.

SEMANTIC STRUCTURES

A number of the semantic structures active in this poem have already

been touched on in the discussion of the dominant isotope i2. The most
obvious structure is that which articulates the human being äs the me-
diating, complex term of the dichotomy:
SPIRITUAL vs PHYSICAL,
which is expressed in the description of the lovers äs
esprits + cceurs
and repeated metaphorically äs
miroir + flambeau.
That the term uniting the two elements is complex positive — in keeping
with the text's Christian mythologeme — is brought out, äs was suggested
earlier, by the rapport which exists between terni and morte in line 14
where they qualify miroir and flambeau respectively. Selecting the nuclear
semes of each from within a homogeneous category and linking them
with the invariant terms:
SPIRITUAL vs PHYSICAL,
one obtains the structure of correlation in Fig. 3.24
Hence the soul is immortal, i.e., reducible but not destructible; the
body, mortal. On the paradigm of existence this renders SPIRITUAL äs
positive and dominant. The fundamental ramification of this distinction,
is that the process of death, depicted in lines 10 and 11, is rendered
metaphorically by a sememe (/iclair/) compatible with the nuclear seme
of /flambeau/ alone and not /miroir/.
23
Rastier, "Systematique", 96.
24
The model used here, a restatement of the square of Opposition used in logic,
is that proposed by Greimas and Rastier in "Les jeux des contraintes semiotiques",
Du sens, 135-56. It is the deixis of implication which interests us. As the arrow of
implication indicates, the relation of superimplication is necessarily truein the semantic
universe of this poem but not that of subimplication. That is si and $2 are always the
implicants; s% and , the respective implicates.
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86 WAYNE GUYMON

SPIRITUAL ' PHYSICAL

REDUCTION ' * CESSATION

relation between contraries

relation between contradictories
y. relation of implication
Fig. 3

In the rest of the poem, however, the disintegration of the complex

term into its opposing semes is studiously avoided. The unity of the term
is underlined not only by the conjunction et in line 14, but also by the
interaction of flame and mirror. More subtly it is reflected by the presence
of both semes in the descriptions of locale, for instance, the description
of the evening given in line 9. As was suggested earlier, the colors rose
and bleu mystique which appear in this line may be read äs connoting
the presence of the natural and the supernatural. Thus their presentation
äs homogeneous (i.e., both are colors) and simultaneously present
constituents of a whole, un soir, Stands äs one more articulation of the
complex term uniting the Spiritual and the physical.
In lines 3 and 4 we have the description of love's ambiance, a place
of flowers and beautiful skies. As a semic category these two elements
could be read äs representative of the basic Opposition:
CELESTIAL vs TERRESTIAL
which, although not necessarily a variant form of the category:
SPIRITUAL vs PHYSICAL,
is certainly in accord with the poem's tendency to posit a complex term
uniting two contrary elements. This description of flowers and sky äs
co-present effectively realizes the complex term rather than the binary
Opposition, the positional metaseme /sous/ establishing the dominance
of the positive term, i.e., CELESTIAL.
Such a reading, however, is based on the exclusion of a third and
principal element of love's ambiance, the bed. Its exclusion is justified
in the above on the basis that it represents a cultural item äs opposed
to the natural flowers and sky. But, if we read le lit äs a metaphor of the
grave and hence äs natural, then we obtain a category also found in the
last two lines of "La mort des artistes", i.e.,
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CHTHON1C vs TERRESTIAL vs CELESTIAL.

(lits/tombeaux) (fleurs) (cieux)
In this case, the complex term is not realized äs was suggested above
by the presence of both heaven and earth in the description of love's
ambiance, but by the flowers. Furthermore, the presence of these three
terms in this poem serves to prefigure and strongly valorize a structure
of extreme importance to "La mort des artistes", where the flowers are
seen to represent art in its role äs mediator between life and death.
The poem's mythic function of mediation between contradictory
terms is also seen in the valorization of the complex term of the temporal
category:
FAST vs PRESENT vs FUTURE.
In terms of the nunc of the poem the entire text is situated in the future
äs its verbs make clear. Yet this future contains in itself both a past and
a present around which the events of the poem transpire. The past, given
in Ql and Q2, is essentially static and descriptive. As such it sets the
stage for a textually present act whose time is indicated only äs un soir
(line 9). This act, in keeping with the poem's title, is death/love (cf. Tl).
It in turn is followed by resurrection which is situated in a textual future
by means of the metaseme /et plus tard/.
Thus the poem is constructed around the three fundamental divisions
of time in accordance with the following Schema:

PAST PRESENT FUTURE

Setting (Ql & Q2) Act (Tl) Consequence (T2)

Expressed in terms of the Bremondian articulation of the logic of the

narrative sequence,25
Realization
/
Actualization
\
Virtuality Non-realization
\
Non-actualization
25
Claude Bremond, "La logique des possibles narratifs", Communications 8 (Paris:
Seuil, 1966), 61-63.
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88 WAYNE GUYMON

this yields the following sequence:

Possibility of death -* Process of death -> Death
which is readily seen to correspond to the basic sequence of degradation.
However, the final tercet containing the 'consequence' outlines a sequence
of amelioration and is implicated by the first sequence in accordance
with Fig. 4.

SEQUENCE A SEQUENCE B

Possibility of death <= Life

Ψ Ψ
Process of dying Process of resurrection
Ψ Ψ
Death => Possibility of life

Fig. 4

The initial state of equilibrium is described, overturned, and reestablish-

ed; consequently, we are presented with a simple but complete narrative
cycle.
The most significant points which can be drawn from Fig. 4 concern
the cyclical nature of the narrative. As indicated, the reestablishment of
the initial state of equilibrium implies the possibility of a subsequent
repetition of the cycle. This is entirely in keeping with the earlier analysis
of the poem's fourth isotope in which it was suggested that the funda-
mental metaphor of the poem is based on the homological argument
that recurrence in nature guarantees the continuation of the individual.
Significantly, the poem gives no terminus to the cycle. To do so would
upset the relational terms of the homology. Equally significant is the
denial of time's passage which this cyclical nature of the poem's narrative
sequence establishes. Time future is seen to be merely a replay of time
past, time past the prefiguration of time future. This results in the
establishment of time present s the only time;26 like music and myth,

26
To make time past equal to time future is to refute the existence of time s is
shown by the following set of equations:
GIVEN: present = p
past = p — n
future = p -t- n

IF : P — n = p -}- n

THEN : n=0
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 AN EXERCISE IN SEMANTIC ANALYSIS 89

the imbrication of the two narrative sequences functions here äs "une

machine ä supprimer le temps".27
As was pointed out above, the description of the poem's FAST, i.e.,
life, renders a fairly static picture of the lovers' world. At its most
active it is the passive reflection of light (line 7). In the FUTURE, the
lovers are also passive; this is underlined by their role äs objects acted
upon. Their single moment of real activity lies in the poem's present
when they exchange im eclair unique (line 10): and even this act is limited
to the trading of a solitary (unique) flash. Both life and death are rendered
äs fundamentally static.
In order to understand the füll significance of the presentation of life
before and after death äs static, it will first be necessary to apply the
proprioceptive category
EUPHORIA vs DYSPHORIA.
As noted earlier, it is this category which permits the determination
of both the axiological and the ideological character of the text. In
both "La mort des pauvres" and "La mort des artistes" the alignment of
the structure
STATIC vs DYNAMIC
is clearly oriented around this fundamental axis such that life is dynamic
and therefore dysphoric; death, static and euphoric.28 However, in
this poem the description of life äs static disrupts the dichotomy between
it and death on this point, rendering both euphoric. The disruption of
this dichotomy and the consequent equalization of the two terms may
be seen both äs an affirmation of and äs a refinement of the lead Statement
ofi4
love ~ death,
for the life described here is essentially that of love.

THUS: past = p — n = p — 0 = present

future = p - f n = p + 0 = present
[For added insight on the significance of the duplication of an event at two seemingly
different moments äs evidence of the annulling of the passage of time, see J. L. Borges,
"Nueva refutacion del tiempo", Otras inquisiciones (Buenos Aires: Emece, I960)].
27
Cl. Levi-Strauss, Le cru et le cuit (Paris: Plon, 1964), 24.
28
It appears that the structure, static + euphoria, constitutes one of the basic
axiological structures of Baudelaire's poetry. For example, M. Riffaterre postulates
the moral conclusion of both "Les chats" and "Les hiboux" of Baudelaire äs "happiness
is ui sedentariness" (Essais de stylistique structurale, trans. by Daniel Delas (Paris·
Flammarion, 1971] p. 364).
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90 WAYNE GUYMON

say both that love is the equivalent of death and that life äs described
in this poem is essentially love is to pose love äs the complex term me-
diating between the category of existence:
LIFE vs DEATH.
Thus the love produced by the lovers denominated in the poem's title
acts äs a mythic intermediary between life and death. Furthermore, it
now becomes apparent that the category of existence and the temporal
category are basically reflections of one another, In the latter, it is time
future and time past which are mediated; in the former, the two most
important events of past and future — birth and death. There remains
only love and the eternal present.
Thus we have come füll circle in our discussion of the poem. The
conclusion of the final isotope is reaffirmed by the semantic structures;
life and death are united and merged through love. If it is true, äs Lovi-
Strauss proposes,29 that the object of myth is to furnish a logical model
for the resolution of contradictions, then the message of this poem is
definitely mythic. For man is here presented äs the mediator between
the physical and the Spiritual, between the mortal and the immortal.
Through love he is seen to merge past and future into a single present
and thus to overcome the most significant Opposition of all — the Opposi-
tion between life and death.

CONCLUSION

The preceding analysis has permitted us to disengage four successively

layered isotopes, each based in a different micro-universe. Together they
span the totality of the semantic universe äs it is designated by Greimas.
The second isotope, a portrayal of death and resurrection read according
to a fundamentally Christian intertextual rnythologeme, was found to
be clearly dominant. While the mythic homology of the fourth and most
deeply implanted isotope, in keeping with Rastier's observation that
"la tradition littoraire considöre comme le plus 'important' le plan de
lecture le moins apparent, celui dont la constitution demande le plus
d'operations de roocriture",30 was established äs the bearer of the poem's
fundamental message. This conclusion was given final confirmation
through our investigation of the various semantic structures at play in
29
Anthropologie, 254.
30
Rastier, "Syst&natique", 96.
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 AN EXERCISE IN SEMANTIC ANALYSIS 91

the poem, at which point it was shown that this poem, not only by virtue
of the reiteration of a few fundamental categories, but also by means of
its implied narrative cycle, functions äs a device for the suppression of
time. Indeed, the basic ideological message of the poem is that through
love man becomes eternal.

Columbia University

REFERENCES

Baudelaire, Charles
1961 Oeuvres completes, ed. by Y.-G. Le Dantec and C. Pichois (Paris: Plerade).
Borges, J. L.
1960 Otras inquisiciones (Buenos Aires: Emece).
Bremond, Claude
1966 "La logique des possibles narratifs", Communications 8, 60-76.
Chomsky, Noam
1957 Syntactic Structures (The Hague: Mouton).
Greimas, A. J.
1966 Semantique structurale (Paris: Larousse).
1970 Du sens (Paris: Seuil).
Kristeva, Julia
1970 Le texte du roman (The Hague: Mouton).
Levi-Strauss, Claude
1958 Anthropologie structurale (Paris: Plon).
1964 Le cm et le cuit (Paris: Plon).
Rastier, Frangois
1972 "Systematique des isotopes", Essais de semiotique pootique, ed. by A. J.
Greimas (Paris: Larousse).
Riffaterre, Michael
1971 Essais de stylistique structurale, trans. by Daniel Delas (Paris: Flammarion).

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