Nightmare

A poem of dream and nightmare, “Cauchemar” by Paul Verlaine is part of the collection Poèmes saturniens. From the very opening, a hallucinated vision takes hold: “Ballads from Germany” are swept along by a fantastic horse through towns, countryside, rivers, mountains and forests. The rapid rhythm and repetitions create a frantic flight, as if the rider could not stop.

The horse, “Flame-red and ebony-black,” without bridle or bit, symbolizes an indomitable force. The anaphora “Always! always!” punctuates this endless race, while the “hoarse death-rattles” suggest a diffuse suffering. The animal becomes the embodiment of an anguish that escapes all control.

Then an enigmatic rider appears: a “tall felt hat with long plume” shadows his eye that “kindles / And goes out,” a comparison with the blue lightning flash of a firearm. This warlike and deadly image gives the character an aura both glorious and disturbing. The snow and the mist reinforce the unreal atmosphere.

The cloak flaps “In the wind” like the wing of a sea-eagle frightened by a storm; it reveals a “torso of shadow and ivory,” a striking contrast between night and whiteness. Finally, in the darkness, “Gleamed amid shrill cries / Thirty-two teeth”: the vision becomes threatening, almost animal. The rider’s smile becomes a weapon.

Thus, this poem expresses the irruption of the unconscious: a hallucinated ride in which the dream turns into nightmare. Verlaine, through rhythm and imagery, makes this rider a figure of modern anguish, between splendor and terror.