Abstract: Setting aside the first eight paragraphs of Barbare, first the article proposes a clarification of the meaning of « larmes blanches bouillantes ». Then the use of the word « ecstasy » in referring to Rimbaud’s text is rejected : the ecstasy is mute while the text is chatty. The silence is only established after « Le pavillon… », referring to the Commune. The last word, « Douceurs » – repeated four times as an exclamation –shows what Rimbaud is talking about. The title Barbare can thus be understood according to the sense that Ovid gives to the word « Barbarus » in Tristia.
