What does “chrysanthème” mean?

Question

I'm trying to learn French by listening to classical music and searching for translations, and I came across a song by Jacques Brel, titled J'arrive, when he says:

De chrysanthème en chrysanthème nos amitiés sont en partance

I assume that the word "chrysanthème" is a flower, but does it mean anything else in French Culture so?

Answer 1

Chrysanthème is indeed a flower (see it here).

In France, On November 1st, there is the "Toussaint". It started off as a religious celebration but now it's more or less for everyone. To sum up, this celebration is for the Dead, and the Chrysanthème is the flower associated with it since the 19th. So while "De Chrysanthème en Chrysanthème" isn't a phrase, it still has meaning.

_{La Toussaint (1886), par Émile Friant}

Answer 2

It is a figure of speech, in which the "chrysanthèmes", flowers of death, represent a burial.

"De chrysanthèmes en chrysanthèmes" = "From one burial to another burial"

This figure of speech is called a "metonymy", in which a word is replaced by another one somehow linked with it.

Common examples:

• "The crown" for "the monarchy"
• "Downing Street" for "the prime minister"
• "The bottle" for "the alcohol"
• Idiomatic expression "Le sabre et le goupillon" : The traditional alliance between the Catholic Church and the French army ("le sabre" = the sword; "le goupillon" = a kind of brush used by the priest to sprinkle holy water on people)

Answer 3

This is a flower equivalent to the Chysanthemum.

As seen in a English to French Dictionary chrysanthemum
n chrysanthème m

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysanthemum